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Evolution of clustered magnetic nulls in a turbulent-like reconnection region in the magnetotail

Dunlop, Malcolm; He, Jiansen; Wang, Xin +6 more

Magnetic null points and flux ropes play important roles in the three-dimensional process of magnetic reconnection. In this study, a cluster of null points are reconstructed in the reconnection region in the magnetotail by applying a fitting-reconstruction method to measurements from the Cluster mission. The number of reconstructed null points var…

Comparison between magnetic coplanarity and MVA methods in determining the normal of Venusian bow shock

Wang, Shui; Huang, Can; Zhang, TieLong +4 more

With the measurements of magnetic field of Venus Express (VEX), magnetic coplanarity and minimum variance analysis (MVA) methods are analyzed and their validity is tested to determine the normal of Venusian bow shocks. It is found that MVA method is the better than magnetic coplanarity, and 95% shock crossings can be accurately determined by the m…

Downward current electron beams observed at the dipolarization front

Fu, SuiYan; Zong, QuiGang; Pu, ZuYin +1 more

The strong field-aligned pitch angle distribution of electrons is observed right at the dipolarization front (DF) before the arriving of a high speed flow when the four Cluster satellites are traveling in the magnetotail around 15 RE on July 22, 2001. The increased electron fluxes only last for a short time period at the DF, corresponding to just …

Variation of dependence of the cusp location at different altitude on the dipole tilt

Dunlop, Malcolm; Zhang, ZiYing; Shi, JianKui +5 more

Using the Cluster cusp crossings data, dependence of the cusp location at the mid-altitude on the geomagnetic dipole tilt during northward IMF is studied. The results show that the cusp center moves 0.051° Invariant Latitude (ILAT) upon the increase of 1° in the dipole tilt angle at the average altitude of 5.8 RE (Earth radius). According to the p…

Energetic electrons associated with magnetic reconnection in the sheath of interplanetary coronal mass ejection

Zhou, Meng; Li, HuiMin; Deng, XiaoHua +3 more

Fast acceleration of "killer" electrons and energetic ions by interplanetary shock stimulated ULF waves in the inner magnetosphere

Zong, QuiGang; Wang, YongFu; Yang, Biao +3 more

Energetic electrons and ions in the Van Allen radiation belt are the number one space weather threat. Understanding how these energetic particles are accelerated within the Van Allen radiation belt is one of the major challenges in space physics. This paper reviews the recent progress on the fast acceleration of "killer" electrons and energetic io…

Electron dynamics in collisionless magnetic reconnection

Wang, Shui; Huang, Can; Lu, San +3 more

Magnetic reconnection provides a physical mechanism for fast energy conversion from magnetic energy to plasma kinetic energy. It is closely associated with many explosive phenomena in space plasma, usually collisionless in character. For this reason, researchers have become more interested in collisionless magnetic reconnection. In this paper, the…

High-speed flowing plasmas in the Earth's plasma sheet

Parks, George; Fu, SuiYan; Sun, WeiJie +4 more

A research topic of great interest to the space physics community is the observation of plasmas flowing at hundreds of kilometers per second in the Earth's plasma sheet. Although considerable effort has been made to understand the source of fast-flowing plasmas, many questions remain unanswered about the mechanisms that produce high-speed flows an…

Electromagnetic ion-cyclotron instability driven by combined loss-cone and temperature anisotropy distribution of suprathermal ions

Hua, YuePing; Wu, DeJin; Wang, DeYu

Electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves, particularly their generation and excitation mechanisms, have been a subject of wide interest because of their potential importance in ion acceleration and heating. In this work, the parameter-dependence of EMIC instabilities is investigated with a combined loss-cone and temperature anisotropy distributi…

Responses of the magnetotail plasma sheet to two interplanetary shocks: TC-1 observations

Zuo, PingBing; Liu, ZhenXing; Yao, Li +1 more

Two interplanetary shocks are examined to determine the responses of the magnetic field and plasma in the plasma sheet upon the shock impacts by using TC-1 observational data. The two shocks are observed by WIND on November 7, 2004. Prior to and after the shock, the IMF is either weakly southward or northward. The responses of the plasma sheet to …