B. L. Giles

Electron-Scale Measurements of Magnetic Reconnection in Space

Probing magnetic reconnection in space Magnetic reconnection occurs when the magnetic field permeating a conductive plasma rapidly rearranges itself, releasing energy and accelerating particles. Reconnection is important in a wide variety of physical systems, but the details of how it occurs are poorly understood. Burch et al. used NASAs Magnetospheric Multiscale mission to probe the plasma properties within a reconnection event in Earths magnetosphere (see the Perspective by Coates). They find that the process is driven by the electron-scale dynamics. The results will aid our understanding of magnetized plasmas, including those in fusion reactors, the solar atmosphere, solar wind, and the magnetospheres of Earth and other planets. Science, this issue p. 10.1126/science.aaf2939; see also p. 1176 Magnetic reconnection is driven by the electron-scale dynamics occurring within magnetized plasmas. INTRODUCTION Magnetic reconnection is a physical process occurring in plasmas in which magnetic energy is explosively converted into heat and kinetic energy. The effects of reconnection—such as solar flares, coronal mass ejections, magnetospheric substorms and auroras, and astrophysical plasma jets—have been studied theoretically, modeled with computer simulations, and observed in space. However, the electron-scale kinetic physics, which controls how magnetic field lines break and reconnect, has up to now eluded observation. RATIONALE To advance understanding of magnetic reconnection with a definitive experiment in space, NASA developed and launched the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission in March 2015. Flying in a tightly controlled tetrahedral formation, the MMS spacecraft can sample the magnetopause, where the interplanetary and geomagnetic fields reconnect, and make detailed measurements of the plasma environment and the electric and magnetic fields in the reconnection region. Because the reconnection dissipation region at the magnetopause is thin (a few kilometers) and moves rapidly back and forth across the spacecraft (10 to 100 km/s), high-resolution measurements are needed to capture the microphysics of reconnection. The most critical measurements are of the three-dimensional electron distributions, which must be made every 30 ms, or 100 times the fastest rate previously available. RESULTS On 16 October 2015, the MMS tetrahedron encountered a reconnection site on the dayside magnetopause and observed (i) the conversion of magnetic energy to particle kinetic energy; (ii) the intense current and electric field that causes the dissipation of magnetic energy; (iii) crescent-shaped electron velocity distributions that carry the current; and (iv) changes in magnetic topology. The crescent-shaped features in the velocity distributions (left side of the figure) are the result of demagnetization of solar wind electrons as they flow into the reconnection site, and their acceleration and deflection by an outward-pointing electric field that is set up at the magnetopause boundary by plasma density gradients. As they are deflected in these fields, the solar wind electrons mix in with magnetospheric electrons and are accelerated along a meandering path that straddles the boundary, picking up the energy released in annihilating the magnetic field. As evidence of the predicted interconnection of terrestrial and solar wind magnetic fields, the crescent-shaped velocity distributions are diverted along the newly connected magnetic field lines in a narrow layer just at the boundary. This diversion along the field is shown in the right side of the figure. CONCLUSION MMS has yielded insights into the microphysics underlying the reconnection between interplanetary and terrestrial magnetic fields. The persistence of the characteristic crescent shape in the electron distributions suggests that the kinetic processes causing magnetic field line reconnection are dominated by electron dynamics, which produces the electric fields and currents that dissipate magnetic energy. The primary evidence for this magnetic dissipation is the appearance of an electric field and a current that are parallel to one another and out of the plane of the figure. MMS has measured this electric field and current, and has identified the important role of electron dynamics in triggering magnetic reconnection. Electron dynamics controls the reconnection between the terrestrial and solar magnetic fields. The process of magnetic reconnection has been a long-standing mystery. With fast particle measurements, NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission has measured how electron dynamics controls magnetic reconnection. The data in the circles show electrons with velocities from 0 to 104 km/s carrying current out of the page on the left side of the X-line and then flowing upward and downward along the reconnected magnetic field on the right side. The most intense fluxes are red and the least intense are blue. The plot in the center shows magnetic field lines and out-of-plane currents derived from a numerical plasma simulation using the parameters observed by MMS. Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental physical process in plasmas whereby stored magnetic energy is converted into heat and kinetic energy of charged particles. Reconnection occurs in many astrophysical plasma environments and in laboratory plasmas. Using measurements with very high time resolution, NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission has found direct evidence for electron demagnetization and acceleration at sites along the sunward boundary of Earth’s magnetosphere where the interplanetary magnetic field reconnects with the terrestrial magnetic field. We have (i) observed the conversion of magnetic energy to particle energy; (ii) measured the electric field and current, which together cause the dissipation of magnetic energy; and (iii) identified the electron population that carries the current as a result of demagnetization and acceleration within the reconnection diffusion/dissipation region.

Ionospheric mass ejection in response to a CME

We report observations of a direct ionospheric plasma outflow response to the incidence of an interplanetary shock and associated coronal mass ejection (CME) upon the earths magnetosphere. Data from the WIND spacecraft, 185 RE upstream, document the passage of an interplanetary shock at 23:20 UT on 24 Sept. 1998. The polar cap plasma environment sampled by the POLAR spacecraft changed abruptly at 23:45 UT, reflecting the compressional displacement of the geopause relative to the spacecraft. POLAR left the polar wind outflow region and entered the mantle flows. Descending toward the dayside cusp region, POLAR later returned from the mantle to an enhanced polar wind flux dominated by O+ plasma and eventually containing molecular ions. The enhanced and O+− dominated outflow continued as the spacecraft passed through the high altitude cleft and then the southern cleft at lower altitude. Such a direct response of the ionosphere to solar wind dynamic pressure disturbances may have important impacts on magnetospheric dynamics.

The adequacy of the ionospheric source in supplying magnetospheric plasma

More than 30 years after the prediction of the polar wind outflow from the high latitude ionosphere, the exact magnitude and ultimate fate of the ionospheric plasma supply remains unknown. Estimates made more than a decade ago suggested that the polar ion outflow might well be of sufficient strength to populate the different regions of the Earth’s magnetosphere. Direct measurements in the high altitude magnetosphere became possible only with the launch of the Polar spacecraft. The combination of the Thermal Ion Dynamics Experiment and the Plasma Source Instrument has revealed the presence of low energy (<10 eV) ions moving through the polar regions and into the lobes of the magnetotail. These ions would have been invisible to previous un-neutralized satellites because of the high positive spacecraft potentials. Through the use of a recently developed single particle trajectory and energization code, the movement and energy transformation of these measured particles can be estimated. They are found to move into the plasma sheet region and to be energized to typical plasma sheet energies. The magnitude of the flux of the highly variable out-flowing ions mapped to 1000 km altitude is 1 − 3 × 108 ions/cm2 s in agreement with the original estimates. Future observations by the TIDE/PSI instruments will be required to determine the extent of the total ionospheric contribution.

Observations of neutral atoms from the solar wind

We report observations of neutral atoms from the solar wind in the Earths vicinity with the low-energy neutral atom (LENA) imager on the Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE) spacecraft. This instrument was designed to be capable of looking at and in the direction of the Sun. Enhancements in the hydrogen count rate in the solar direction are not correlated with either solar ultraviolet emission or suprathermal ions and are deduced to be due to neutral particles from the solar wind. LENA observes these particles from the direction closest to that of the Sun even when the Sun is not directly in LENAs 90° field of view. Simulations show that these neutrals are the result of solar wind ions charge exchanging with exospheric neutral hydrogen atoms in the postshock flow of the solar wind in the magnetosheath. Their energy is inferred to exceed 300 eV, consistent with solar wind energies, based on simulation results and on the observation of oxygen ions, sputtered from the conversion surface in the time-of-flight spectra. In addition, the sputtered oxygen abundance tracks the solar wind speed, even when IMAGE is deep inside the magnetosphere. These results show that low-energy neutral atom imaging provides the capability to directly monitor the solar wind flow in the magnetosheath from inside the magnetosphere because there is a continuous and significant flux of neutral atoms originating from the solar wind that permeates the magnetosphere.

Statistical survey of pitch angle distributions in core (0-50 eV) ions from Dynamics Explorer 1: Outflow in the auroral zone, polar cap, and cusp

Core (0-50 eV) ion pitch angle measurements from the retarding ion mass spectrometer on Dynamics Explorer 1 are examined with respect to magnetic disturbance, invariant latitude, magnetic local time, and altitude for ions H+, He+, O+, M/Z=2 (D+ or He++), and O++. Included are outflow events in the auroral zone, polar cap, and cusp, separated into altitude regions below and above 3 RE. In addition to the customary division into beam, conic, and upwelling distributions, the high-latitude observations fall into three categories corresponding to ion bulk speeds that are (1) less than, (2) comparable to, or (3) faster than that of the spacecraft. This separation, along with the altitude partition, serves to identify conditions under which ionospheric source ions are gravitationally bound and when they are more energetic and able to escape to the outer magnetosphere. Features of the cleft ion fountain inferred from single event studies are clearly identifiable in the statistical results. In addition, it is found that the dayside pre-noon cleft is a consistent source of escape velocity low-energy ions regardless of species or activity level and the dayside afternoon cleft, or auroral zone, becomes an additional source for increased activity. The auroral oval as a whole appears to be a steady source of escape velocity H+, a steady source of escape velocity He+ ions for the dusk sector, and a source of escape velocity heavy ions for dusk local times primarily during increased activity. The polar cap above the auroral zone is a consistent source of low-energy ions, although only the lighter mass particles appear to have sufficient velocity, on average, to escape to higher altitudes. The observations support two concepts for outflow: (1) The cleft ion fountain consists of ionospheric plasma of 1-20 eV energy streaming upward into the magnetosphere where high-latitude convection electric fields cause poleward dispersion. (2) The auroral ion fountain involves field-aligned beams which flow out along auroral latitude field lines; and, in addition, for late afternoon local times, they experience additional acceleration such that the ion energy distribution tends to exceed the detection range of the instrument (>50-60 eV).

Magnetospheric Multiscale Observations of Magnetic Reconnection Associated with Kelvin-Helmholtz Waves

The four Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft recorded the first direct evidence of reconnection exhausts associated with Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) waves at the duskside magnetopause on 8 Septemb ...

Low energy neutral atoms in the magnetosphere

We report observations of low energy neutral atoms (LENA) from the solar wind and the ionosphere, obtained by the LENA Imager on the IMAGE spacecraft. The LENA Imager detects and images LENAs arriving at the spacecraft from within a 90° field of view (8° × 8° pixels), swept through 360° every two minutes by spacecraft spin. Neutral atoms arriving at the sensor are converted to negative ions by a conversion surface. The resulting negative ions are separated in energy (3 bins, 10–250 eV) and arrival direction (±45°). They are then accelerated, detected, and time-of-flight mass analyzed. The solar wind and the ionosphere both emit measurable neutral atom fluxes, the latter responding rapidly to to variations of the former.

Ion-scale secondary flux ropes generated by magnetopause reconnection as resolved by MMS.

Abstract New Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) observations of small‐scale (~7 ion inertial length radius) flux transfer events (FTEs) at the dayside magnetopause are reported. The 10 km MMS tetrahedron size enables their structure and properties to be calculated using a variety of multispacecraft techniques, allowing them to be identified as flux ropes, whose flux content is small (~22 kWb). The current density, calculated using plasma and magnetic field measurements independently, is found to be filamentary. Intercomparison of the plasma moments with electric and magnetic field measurements reveals structured non‐frozen‐in ion behavior. The data are further compared with a particle‐in‐cell simulation. It is concluded that these small‐scale flux ropes, which are not seen to be growing, represent a distinct class of FTE which is generated on the magnetopause by secondary reconnection.

Electron jet of asymmetric reconnection

We present Magnetospheric Multiscale observations of an electron-scale current sheet and electron outflow jet for asymmetric reconnection with guide field at the subsolar magnetopause. The electron ...

Magnetospheric Multiscale Observations of the Electron Diffusion Region of Large Guide Field Magnetic Reconnection

We report observations from the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) satellites of a large guide field magnetic reconnection event. The observations suggest that two of the four MMS spacecraft sampled the electron diffusion region, whereas the other two spacecraft detected the exhaust jet from the event. The guide magnetic field amplitude is approximately 4 times that of the reconnecting field. The event is accompanied by a significant parallel electric field (E_{∥}) that is larger than predicted by simulations. The high-speed (∼300  km/s) crossing of the electron diffusion region limited the data set to one complete electron distribution inside of the electron diffusion region, which shows significant parallel heating. The data suggest that E_{∥} is balanced by a combination of electron inertia and a parallel gradient of the gyrotropic electron pressure.