Related papers: Applying Magnetic Curvature to to MMS data to iden…
Many in-situ spacecraft observations have demonstrated that magnetic reconnection in the Earth's magnetotail is largely controlled by the pre-reconnection current sheet configuration. One of the most important thin current sheet…
Using 3D particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations, we study magnetic reconnection with the x-line being spatially confined in the current direction. We include thick current layers to prevent reconnection at two ends of a thin current sheet that…
We report a unique conjugate observation of fast flows and associated current sheet disturbances in the near-Earth magnetotail by MMS (Magnetospheric Multiscale) and Cluster preceding a positive bay onset of a small substorm at ~14:10 UT,…
The magnetotail current sheet's spatial configuration and stability control the onset of magnetic reconnection - the driving process for magnetospheric substorms. The near-Earth current sheet has been thoroughly investigated by numerous…
We analyze a magnetotail reconnection onset event on 3 July 2017 that was observed under otherwise quiescent magnetospheric conditions by a fortuitous conjunction of six space and ground-based observatories. The study investigates the…
Magnetic field line reconnection is a universal plasma process responsible for the magnetic field topology change and magnetic field energy dissipation into charged particle heating and acceleration. In many systems, the conditions leading…
MESSENGER has observed a lot of dawn-dusk asymmetries in Mercury's magnetotail, such as the asymmetries of the cross-tail current sheet thickness and the occurrence of flux ropes, dipolarization events and energetic electron injections. In…
Mercury's magnetotail hosts a thin and highly dynamic current sheet (CS), where magnetic reconnection and strong fluctuations frequently occur. Here, we statistically analyze magnetic field power spectra across 370 magnetotail CSs observed…
The magnetotail current sheet configuration determines magnetic reconnection properties that control the substorm onset, one of the most energetic phenomena in the Earth's magnetosphere. The quiet-time current sheet is often approximated as…
Magnetic reconnection requires the violation of the frozen-in condition which ties gyrating charged particles to the magnetic field inhibiting diffusion. Ongoing reconnection has been identified in near-Earth space as being responsible for…
Magnetic reconnection in laboratory, space and astrophysical plasmas is often invoked to explain explosive energy release and particle acceleration. However, the timescales involved in classical models within the macroscopic MHD regime are…
We present auroral evidence for multiple and, most probably, small scale reconnection in the near Earth magnetospheric plasma sheet current layer during auroral activity. Hall currents as the source of upward and downward field-aligned…
Collisionless space plasma turbulence can generate reconnecting thin current sheets as suggested by recent results of numerical magnetohydrodynamic simulations. The MMS mission provides the first serious opportunity to check if small…
The magnetopause is a current sheet forming the boundary between the geomagnetic field on one side and the shocked solar wind on the other side. This paper discusses properties of the low-latitude dawn and dusk flanks of the magnetopause.…
We analyze the local dynamics of magnetotail reconnection onset using Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) data. In conjunction with MMS, the macroscopic dynamics of this event were captured by a number of other ground and space-based…
Magnetic reconnection in partially ionized plasmas is a ubiquitous phenomenon spanning the range from laboratory to intergalactic scales, yet it remains poorly understood and relatively little studied. Here, we present results from a…
Magnetic reconnection in naturally occurring and laboratory settings often begins locally and elongates, or spreads, in the direction perpendicular to the plane of reconnection. Previous work has largely focused on current sheets with a…
Cluster observations in the near-Earth magnetotail have shown that sometimes the current sheet is bifurcated, i.e. it is divided in two layers. The influence of magnetic turbulence on ion motion in this region is investigated by numerical…
Magnetic reconnection is best known from observations of the Sun where it causes solar flares. Observations estimate the reconnection rate a small, but non-negligible fraction of the Alfv\'en speed, so-called fast reconnection. Until…
Convection inside the magnetosphere can be regarded as the transfer of magnetic flux and plasma from the magnetotail into the nightside and then convection and drift from there to the dayside. As in many fluid flow situations, the…