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New discovery on magnetic reconnection to impact future space missions

23 January 2008

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Cluster observing the electron diffusion region

This figure shows the trajectory of a Cluster satellite (Rumba) overlaid on a numerical simulation of an electron diffusion region in the magnetosheath.

The axes represent the distance from the core of the magnetic reconnection process, where the kink occurs, in between the thin blue jet and the red jet.

Credits: University of Delaware (M. Shay)

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Schematic of magnetic field lines during reconnection

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In a plasma (a gas of charged particles), during magnetic reconnection, magnetic field lines of opposite direction break and then reconnect, forming an X-line magnetic topology. The newly reconnected field lines accelerate the plasma away from the X-line.

Credits: Center for Visual computing, Univ. of California Riverside

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Comparison between observations and simulation

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This figure shows a comparison between the observed (left panel) and simulated (right panel) plasma and field profiles of Cluster (Rumba) crossing the reconnection electron jet close to a reconnection site.

Credits: University of California at Berkeley (T. Phan)

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MOV (Size: 5283 kb)

This movie, put together from a numerical simulation, shows magnetic field lines (shown in white) on a colour contour plot of electron flow speed.

The magnetic field lines flow in towards the centre of the page and merge. After they merge, the magnetic field line tension flings the plasma to the left and right, away from the origin. The electron diffusion region corresponds to the red, yellow and green regions along the centre. Once reconnection starts, this region grows with time, becoming much longer than previously thought.

Credits: University of Delaware (M. Shay)

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