HR: 10:50h
AN: SM12A-03    [Abstracts]
TI: Observations of flux ropes and X lines in the near Earth magnetotail by Cluster
AU: * Eastwood, J P
EM: jonathan.p.eastwood.1@gsfc.nasa.gov
AF: National Research Council, Code 612.3, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 United States
AU: * Eastwood, J P
EM: jonathan.p.eastwood.1@gsfc.nasa.gov
AF: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 612.3, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 United States
AU: Sibeck, D G
SM12A-03 AF: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 612.3, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 United States
AU: Slavin, J A
SM12A-03 AF: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 612.3, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 United States
AU: Lavraud, B
SM12A-03 AF: Los Alamos National Laboratory, ISR-1, Space and Atmospheric Sciences, Los Alamos National Laboratory P.O. Box 1663, MS D466, Los Alamos, NM 87545 United States
AU: Lucek, E A
SM12A-03 AF: Imperial College London, Space and Atmospheric Physics, The Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, Prince Consort Road, London, SW7 2BW United Kingdom
AU: Balogh, A
SM12A-03 AF: Imperial College London, Space and Atmospheric Physics, The Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, Prince Consort Road, London, SW7 2BW United Kingdom
AU: Dandouras, I
SM12A-03 AF: CESR/CNRS, 9. Ave. du Colonel Roche BP 4346, Toulouse, 31028 France
AB: Magnetic reconnection in the Earth's magnetotail plays a key role in controlling the dynamics of the Earth's magnetosphere. Recent results from Cluster multi-spacecraft analysis have raised important questions about the traditional interpretation of reconnection-associated phenomena observed by single spacecraft. Cluster has shown that observations conventionally interpreted as a single X-line can correspond to multiple X-line structure [Eastwood et al, 2005]. Single point observations cannot distinguish between these two possibilities, and previous interpretations have invoked the simpler picture. This case study is put into a wider context by examining the plasma dynamics following this particular event. We also consider how common these observations are in the Cluster dataset, and discuss the implications for previous single spacecraft studies.
DE: 2740 Magnetospheric configuration and dynamics
DE: 2744 Magnetotail
DE: 2764 Plasma sheet
DE: 7835 Magnetic reconnection (2723, 7526)
SC: SPA-Magnetospheric Physics [SM]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005