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Electron Acceleration in a Magnetotail Reconnection Outflow Region Using Magnetospheric MultiScale Data

Khotyaintsev, Yuri V.; Graham, Daniel B.; Vaivads, Andris +3 more

We study Magnetospheric MultiScale observations in the outflow region of magnetotail reconnection. We estimate the power density converted via the three fundamental electron acceleration mechanisms: Fermi, betatron, and parallel electric fields. The dominant mechanism, both on average and the peak values, is Fermi acceleration with a peak power de…

Is Nightside Outflow Required to Induce Magnetospheric Sawtooth Oscillations

Zhang, Binzheng; Brambles, Oliver J.; Lotko, William +1 more

Ionospheric outflow plays an important role in the mass coupling between the ionosphere and the coupled solar wind-magnetosphere system. Previous modeling studies have shown that outflowing ionospheric ions may induce magnetospheric sawtooth oscillations through mass loading of the magnetotail, stretching the magnetic field lines, and reducing nig…