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Simultaneous observations of magnetotail reconnection and bright X-ray aurora on 2 October 2002
Department of Physics, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
Department of Physics, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
Department of Physics, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA
Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA
Center for Space Plasma and Astronomy Research, University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, Alabama, USA
Space and Atmospheric Sciences, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA
Space Science Department, Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas, USA
Department of Physics, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
Space and Atmospheric Physics, Imperial College London, London, UK
Centre d'Etude Spatiale des Rayonnements, Toulouse, France
Space Science Center, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire, USA
We present simultaneous Cluster and Polar X-ray and UVI observations on 2 October 2002, when Cluster observed a magnetic reconnection diffusion region at Xgse = −16.6 Re. At the same time a bright auroral feature appeared at the footpoint of the magnetic field line connecting the ionosphere and the diffusion region. However, we found that the electrons measured in the diffusion region by Cluster were not sufficiently accelerated by the reconnection process to produce the aurora X-ray fluxes measured by Polar. The DMSP F14 passed over the intense X-ray spot and showed that the X rays (and the fainter UV) were produced by electrons accelerated through a ∼30 kV potential drop. The coincidence in time and the fact that this inverted-V is very close to the open-closed field line boundary suggest that the inverted-V structure are produced by flow shears that could be related to the reconnection process.
Received 15 June 2006; accepted 21 November 2006; published 13 June 2007.
Citation: (2007), Simultaneous observations of magnetotail reconnection and bright X-ray aurora on 2 October 2002, J. Geophys. Res., 112, A06215, doi:10.1029/2006JA011913.
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