Kinetic aspects of foreshock cavities

Abstract

We have investigated the kinetic signatures within, and at the edges of, a foreshock cavity. Such cavities are believed to be formed when an isolated collection of interplanetary magnetic field lines connect to quasi-parallel regions of the Earth's bow shock, allowing energetic ions to flow upstream and excavate a local cavity. Observations by the Cluster spacecraft show precisely this configuration. The suprathermal ions can be seen just outside the edges of the cavity within a restricted range of gyrophases, consistent with their gyromotion tangential to the layer containing the cavity. Foreshock cavities, if sufficiently common, may play significant roles in triggering magnetospheric events. Thus our confirmation of their relatively simple formation mechanism lends support to their inferred frequency.