On the origins of magnetic flux ropes in near-Mars magnetotail current sheets - INSU - Institut national des sciences de l'Univers Access content directly
Journal Articles Geophysical Research Letters Year : 2017

On the origins of magnetic flux ropes in near-Mars magnetotail current sheets

Takuya Hara
  • Function : Author
Yuki Harada
  • Function : Author
David L. Mitchell
  • Function : Author
Gina A. Dibraccio
  • Function : Author
Jared R. Espley
  • Function : Author
David A. Brain
  • Function : Author
Jasper S. Halekas
  • Function : Author
Kanako Seki
  • Function : Author
Janet G. Luhmann
  • Function : Author
James P. Mcfadden
  • Function : Author
Bruce M. Jakosky
  • Function : Author

Abstract

We analyze Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) observations of magnetic flux ropes embedded in Martian magnetotail current sheets, in order to evaluate the role of magnetotail reconnection in their generations. We conduct a minimum variance analysis to infer the generation processes of magnetotail flux ropes from the geometrical configuration of the individual flux rope axial orientation with respect to the overall current sheet. Of 23 flux ropes detected in current sheets in the near-Mars (∼1-3 Martian radii downstream) magnetotail, only 3 (possibly 4) can be explained by the magnetotail reconnection scenario, while the vast majority of the events (19 events) are more consistent with flux ropes that are originally generated in the dayside ionosphere and subsequently transported into the nightside magnetotail. The mixed origins of the detected flux ropes imply complex nature of generation and transport of Martian magnetotail flux ropes.
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insu-03676962 , version 1 (24-05-2022)

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Takuya Hara, Yuki Harada, David L. Mitchell, Gina A. Dibraccio, Jared R. Espley, et al.. On the origins of magnetic flux ropes in near-Mars magnetotail current sheets. Geophysical Research Letters, 2017, 44, pp.7653-7662. ⟨10.1002/2017GL073754⟩. ⟨insu-03676962⟩
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