Electron-scale Vertical Current Sheets in a Bursty Bulk Flow in the Terrestrial MagnetotailShow others and affiliations
2019 (English)In: Astrophysical Journal Letters, ISSN 2041-8205, E-ISSN 2041-8213, Vol. 872, no 2, article id L26Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
We report Magnetospheric Multiscale observations of multiple vertical current sheets (CSs) in a bursty bulk flow in the near-Earth magnetotail. Two of the CSs were fine structures of a dipolarization front (DF) at the leading edge of the flow. The other CSs were a few Earth radii tailward of the DF; that is, in the wake of the DF. Some of these vertical CSs were a few electron inertial lengths thick and were converting energy from magnetic field to plasma. The currents of the CSs in the DF wake were carried by electrons that formed flow shear layers. These electron-scale CSs were probably formed during the turbulent evolution of the bursty bulk flow and are important for energy conversion associated with fast flows.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Institute of Physics (IOP), 2019. Vol. 872, no 2, article id L26
Keywords [en]
magnetic fields, magnetic reconnection, turbulence
National Category
Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-245912DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/ab0424ISI: 000459254000007Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85063470589OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-245912DiVA, id: diva2:1296222
Note
QC 220190314
2019-03-142019-03-142022-06-26Bibliographically approved