Abstract
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH,
VOL. 113,
A12213,
19 PP., 2008
doi:10.1029/2008JA013385
Evidence of an extended electron current sheet and its neighboring magnetic island during magnetotail reconnection
Space Science Center, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire, USA
Space Science Center, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire, USA
Space and Atmospheric Physics, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, London, UK
Space Science Center, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire, USA
Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Dorking, UK
Space Science Center, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire, USA
Space Science Center, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire, USA
Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA
Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Uppsala, Sweden
Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Uppsala, Sweden
Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Garching, Germany
Space Science Center, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire, USA
We have identified a spatially extended electron current sheet (ECS) and its adjacent magnetic island during a magnetotail
reconnection event with no appreciable guide field. This finding is based on data from the four Cluster spacecraft and is
enabled by detailed maps of electron distribution functions and DC electric fields within the diffusion region. The maps are
developed using two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations with a mass ratio m i /m e = 800. One spacecraft crossed the ECS earthward of the reconnection null and, together with the other three spacecraft, registered
the following properties: (1) The ECS is colocated with a layer of bipolar electric fields normal to the ECS, pointing toward
the ECS, and with a half width less than 8 electron skin depths. (2) In the inflow region up to the ECS and separatrices,
electrons have a temperature anisotropy (T e
Received 12 May 2008; accepted 23 September 2008; published 19 December 2008.
Citation: (2008), Evidence of an extended electron current sheet and its neighboring magnetic island during magnetotail reconnection, J. Geophys. Res., 113, A12213, doi:10.1029/2008JA013385.
Cited By
