HR: 17:05h
AN: SM14A-05    [Abstracts]
TI: Multi-spacecraft THEMIS - Geotail observations of magnetosheath plasma penetration deep into the low-latitude dayside and nightside magnetosphere for equal northward and dawnward IMF
AU: * Oieroset, M
EM: oieroset@ssl.berkeley.edu
AF: Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, United States
AU: Phan, T D
EM: phan@ssl.berkeley.edu
AF: Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, United States
AU: Angelopoulos, V
EM: vassilis@ssl.berkeley.edu
AF: Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, United States
AU: McFadden, J P
EM: mcfadden@ssl.berkeley.edu
AF: Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, United States
AU: Carlson, C W
EM: cwc@ssl.berkeley.edu
AF: Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, United States
AU: Larson, D
EM: davin@ssl.berkeley.edu
AF: Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, United States
AU: Glassmeier, K
EM: kh.glassmeier@tu-braunschweig.de
AF: Ins. f. Geophysik u. Extraterrestrische Physik, Mendelssohnstrasse 2-3, Braunschweig, 38106, Germany
AU: Fujimoto, M
EM: fujimoto@stp.isas.jaxa.jp
AF: ISAS/JAXA, Space Plasma Division 3-1-1 Yoshinodai, Kanagawa, 229-8510, Japan
AU: Nishino, M
EM: nishino@stp.isas.jaxa.jp
AF: ISAS/JAXA, Space Plasma Division 3-1-1 Yoshinodai, Kanagawa, 229-8510, Japan
AU: Nishino, M
EM: nishino@stp.isas.jaxa.jp
AF: Department of Earth and Planetary Science, School of Science, University of Tokyo 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan
AU: Raeder, J
EM: J.Raeder@unh.edu
AF: Department of Physics & Space Science Center, University of New Hampshire, 245G Morse Hall, 39 College Rd, Durham, NH 03824-3525, United States
AU: Li, W
EM: wenhuil@cisunix.unh.edu
AF: Department of Physics & Space Science Center, University of New Hampshire, 245G Morse Hall, 39 College Rd, Durham, NH 03824-3525, United States
AU: Bonnell, J W
EM: jbonnell@ssl.berkeley.edu
AF: Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, United States
AB: On June 3, 2007 the five THEMIS spacecraft traversed the dayside post-noon magnetosphere like pearls on a string in a near-equatorial orbit with a 15.4 R_E apogee. The leading (probe B) and trailing (probe A) spacecraft were separated by ~~3 R_E. While THEMIS B monitored the magnetosheath THEMIS A, C, D, and E were still located inside the magnetosphere and observed an extended layer of mixed cold magnetosheath and hot plasma sheet plasmas. The plasma temperature and density were intermediate between the magnetosheath and hot plasma sheet values. The electron pitch angle distributions in this cold and dense plasma sheet (CDPS) display perfectly balanced field-aligned counter-streaming electrons at all energies, indicating that this region is located on closed magnetic field lines. The CDPS was observed sequentially by the four THEMIS spacecraft, which allows the determination of the thickness and spatial evolution of this region. The dayside post-noon magnetopause appeared to be a stable boundary during this interval, with no evidence for Kelvin-Helmholtz waves. During the same interval Geotail observed CDPS in the dawn flank magnetotail, indicating that the magnetosheath plasma penetration was a global phenomenon. The CDPS observations were associated with an interval of equal northward and dawnward IMF. These observations may suggest that the capturing of the magnetosheath plasma by double-cusp reconnection occurs even with a significant IMF By component.
DE: 2724 Magnetopause and boundary layers
DE: 2744 Magnetotail
DE: 2748 Magnetotail boundary layers
DE: 2764 Plasma sheet
DE: 2784 Solar wind/magnetosphere interactions
SC: SPA-Magnetospheric Physics [SM]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting