Recent progress on magnetic reconnection by in situ measurements

Abstract

In the last decades, a few spacecraft missions have been launched to investigate the process of magnetic reconnection in space, during which magnetic free energy is explosively released into plasma kinetic energy and heating. Due to the sophisticated in situ measurements of the spacecraft missions, a big progress has been achieved over the last decades. The mystery of the core region of the reconnection ion and electron diffusion regions is uncovered for the first time. The coupling between the local magnetic reconnection and the global-scale disturbance is deeply understood. More evidence for the relation between magnetic reconnection and turbulence is accumulated. This paper is aimed to simply review these advances.