scholarly journals How Jupiter’s unusual magnetospheric topology structures its aurora

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (15) ◽  
pp. eabd1204
Author(s):  
Binzheng Zhang ◽  
Peter A. Delamere ◽  
Zhonghua Yao ◽  
Bertrand Bonfond ◽  
D. Lin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Magnetic Flux ◽  
Time Scale ◽  
Polar Region ◽  
Polar Cap ◽  
Reconnection Rate ◽  
Planetary Rotation ◽  
Polar Aurora ◽  
Field Lines

Jupiter’s bright persistent polar aurora and Earth’s dark polar region indicate that the planets’ magnetospheric topologies are very different. High-resolution global simulations show that the reconnection rate at the interface between the interplanetary and jovian magnetic fields is too slow to generate a magnetically open, Earth-like polar cap on the time scale of planetary rotation, resulting in only a small crescent-shaped region of magnetic flux interconnected with the interplanetary magnetic field. Most of the jovian polar cap is threaded by helical magnetic flux that closes within the planetary interior, extends into the outer magnetosphere, and piles up near its dawnside flank where fast differential plasma rotation pulls the field lines sunward. This unusual magnetic topology provides new insights into Jupiter’s distinctive auroral morphology.

On the origins of an explicit IMF By dependence on solar wind - magnetosphere coupling

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jone Peter Reistad ◽  
Anders Ohma ◽  
Karl Magnus Laundal ◽  
Therese Moretto ◽  
Steve Milan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Solar Wind ◽  
Magnetic Flux ◽  
Current System ◽  
Polar Cap ◽  
Reconnection Rate ◽  
Northern Summer ◽  
Northern Winter ◽  
Average Lead ◽  
Dipole Tilt

<p>Presently, all empirical coupling functions quantifying the solar wind - magnetosphere energy- or magnetic flux conversion, assume that the coupling is independent of the sign of the dawn-dusk component (By) of the Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF). In this paper we present observations strongly suggesting an explicit IMF By effect on the solar wind - magnetosphere coupling. When the Earth's dipole is tilted in the direction corresponding to northern winter, positive IMF By is found to on average lead to a larger polar cap than when IMF By is negative during otherwise similar conditions. This explicit IMF By effect is found to reverse when the Earth's dipole is inclined in the opposite direction (northern summer), and is consistently observed from both hemispheres using the Active Magnetosphere and Planetary Electrodynamics Response Experiment (AMPERE) to infer the size of the region 1/2 current system. Two interpretations are presented: 1) The dayside reconnection rate is affected by the combination of dipole tilt and IMF By sign in a manner explaining the observations 2) The combination of dipole tilt and IMF By sign affect the global conditions for maintaining a given nightside reconnection rate. The observations as well as idealized magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model runs are analyzed and discussed in light of the two different interpretations in order to enhance our understanding of this explicit IMF By effect.</p>

Some comments on magnetic field reconnection

1975 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 271-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. R. Priest ◽  
S. W. H. Cowley
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Magnetic Flux ◽  
Fluid Velocity ◽  
Neutral Point ◽  
Diffusion Region ◽  
Reconnection Rate ◽  
Field Lines ◽  
The Magnetic Field

Some comments are made about how to determine the speed with which magnetic flux is carried towards an X-type neutral point and reconnected. Conditions in the diffusion region near the neutral point are also investigated, with the conclusion that the streamlines and magnetic field lines cannot both be locally hyperbolic. Instead, two distinct modes may be possible. In the first, the magnetic field lines are straight, and the diffusion region does not differ greatly from that described by Parker (1963). In the second, the fluid velocity components increase cubically away from the neutral point with the result that, for a given reconnection rate, the diffusion region is typically five times greater than in the Parker model.

The magnetic structure and dynamics of a decaying active region

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (S354) ◽  
pp. 53-57
Author(s):  
Ioannis Kontogiannis ◽  
Christoph Kuckein ◽  
Sergio Javier González Manrique ◽  
Tobias Felipe ◽  
Meetu Verma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Time Series ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Active Region ◽  
Magnetic Structure ◽  
High Velocity ◽  
Solar Dynamics Observatory ◽  
Multi Wavelength ◽  
Convective Motions ◽  
Field Lines

AbstractWe study the evolution of the decaying active region NOAA 12708, from the photosphere up to the corona using high resolution, multi-wavelength GREGOR observations taken on May 9, 2018. We utilize spectropolarimetric scans of the 10830 Å spectral range by the GREGOR Infrared Spectrograph (GRIS), spectral imaging time-series in the Na ID2 spectral line by the GREGOR Fabry-Pérot Interferometer (GFPI) and context imaging in the Ca IIH and blue continuum by the High-resolution Fast Imager (HiFI). Context imaging in the UV/EUV from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) complements our dataset. The region under study contains one pore with a light-bridge, a few micro-pores and extended clusters of magnetic bright points. We study the magnetic structure from the photosphere up to the upper chromosphere through the spectropolarimetric observations in He II and Si I and through the magnetograms provided by the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI). The high-resolution photospheric images reveal the complex interaction between granular-scale convective motions and a range of scales of magnetic field concentrations in unprecedented detail. The pore itself shows a strong interaction with the convective motions, which eventually leads to its decay, while, under the influence of the photospheric flow field, micro-pores appear and disappear. Compressible waves are generated, which are guided towards the upper atmosphere along the magnetic field lines of the various magnetic structures within the field-of-view. Modelling of the He i absorption profiles reveals high velocity components, mostly associated with magnetic bright points at the periphery of the active region, many of which correspond to asymmetric Si I Stokes-V profiles revealing a coupling between upper photospheric and upper chromospheric dynamics. Time-series of Na ID2 spectral images reveal episodic high velocity components at the same locations. State-of-the-art multi-wavelength GREGOR observations allow us to track and understand the mechanisms at work during the decay phase of the active region.

scholarly journals Ion velocity distributions within the LLBL and their possible implication to multiple reconnections

2004 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 213-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. L. Vaisberg ◽  
L. A. Avanov ◽  
T. E. Moore ◽  
V. N. Smirnov
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Magnetic Flux ◽  
Flux Tube ◽  
Magnetic Flux Tube ◽  
Flux Tubes ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Subsolar Point ◽  
Magnetic Flux Tubes ◽  
Ion Velocity ◽  
Field Lines

Abstract. We analyze two LLBL crossings made by the Interball-Tail satellite under a southward or variable magnetosheath magnetic field: one crossing on the flank of the magnetosphere, and another one closer to the subsolar point. Three different types of ion velocity distributions within the LLBL are observed: (a) D-shaped distributions, (b) ion velocity distributions consisting of two counter-streaming components of magnetosheath-type, and (c) distributions with three components, one of which has nearly zero parallel velocity and two counter-streaming components. Only the (a) type fits to the single magnetic flux tube formed by reconnection between the magnetospheric and magnetosheath magnetic fields. We argue that two counter-streaming magnetosheath-like ion components observed by Interball within the LLBL cannot be explained by the reflection of the ions from the magnetic mirror deeper within the magnetosphere. Types (b) and (c) ion velocity distributions would form within spiral magnetic flux tubes consisting of a mixture of alternating segments originating from the magnetosheath and from magnetospheric plasma. The shapes of ion velocity distributions and their evolution with decreasing number density in the LLBL indicate that a significant part of the LLBL is located on magnetic field lines of long spiral flux tube islands at the magnetopause, as has been proposed and found to occur in magnetopause simulations. We consider these observations as evidence for multiple reconnection Χ-lines between magnetosheath and magnetospheric flux tubes. Key words. Magnetospheric physics (magnetopause, cusp and boundary layers; solar wind-magnetosphere interactions)

scholarly journals Differential rotation in neutron stars with open and closed magnetic topologies

2020 ◽  
Vol 494 (3) ◽  
pp. 3095-3109
Author(s):  
F Anzuini ◽  
A Melatos
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Field Line ◽  
Open Field ◽  
Flux Tube ◽  
Differential Rotation ◽  
Time Scale ◽  
Outer Sphere ◽  
Closed Field ◽  
Magnetic Tension ◽  
Field Lines

ABSTRACT Analytic arguments have been advanced that the degree of differential rotation in a neutron star depends on whether the topology of the internal magnetic field is open or closed. To test this assertion, the ideal-magnetohydrodynamics solver pluto is employed to investigate numerically the flow of an incompressible, viscous fluid threaded by a magnetic field with open and closed topologies in a conducting, differentially rotating, spherical shell. Rigid body corotation with the outer sphere is enforced on the Alfvén time-scale, along magnetic field lines that connect the northern and southern hemispheres of the outer sphere. Along other field lines, however, the behaviour is more complicated. For example, an initial point dipole field evolves to produce an approximately closed equatorial flux tube containing at least one predominantly toroidal and approximately closed field line surrounded by a bundle of predominantly toroidal but open field lines. Inside the equatorial flux tube, the field-line-averaged magnetic tension approaches zero, and the fluid rotates differentially, adjusting its angular velocity on the viscous time-scale to match the boundary conditions on the flux tube’s toroidal surface. Outside the equatorial flux tube, the differential rotation increases, as the magnetic tension averaged along open field lines decreases.

scholarly journals Plasma flows, Birkeland currents and auroral forms in relation to the Svalgaard-Mansurov effect

2012 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 817-830 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. E. Sandholt ◽  
C. J. Farrugia
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Open Field ◽  
Central Element ◽  
Flow Channel ◽  
Plasma Convection ◽  
Polar Cap ◽  
Flow Channels ◽  
Field Lines ◽  
Current Systems ◽  
Birkeland Currents

Abstract. The traditional explanation of the polar cap magnetic deflections, referred to as the Svalgaard-Mansurov effect, is in terms of currents associated with ionospheric flow resulting from the release of magnetic tension on newly open magnetic field lines. In this study, we aim at an updated description of the sources of the Svalgaard-Mansurov effect based on recent observations of configurations of plasma flow channels, Birkeland current systems and aurorae in the magnetosphere-ionosphere system. Central to our description is the distinction between two different flow channels (FC 1 and FC 2) corresponding to two consecutive stages in the evolution of open field lines in Dungey cell convection, with FC 1 on newly open, and FC 2 on old open, field lines. Flow channel FC 1 is the result of ionospheric Pedersen current closure of Birkeland currents flowing along newly open field lines. During intervals of nonzero interplanetary magnetic field By component FC 1 is observed on either side of noon and it is accompanied by poleward moving auroral forms (PMAFs/prenoon and PMAFs/postnoon). In such cases the next convection stage, in the form of flow channel FC 2 on the periphery of the polar cap, is particularly important for establishing an IMF By-related convection asymmetry along the dawn-dusk meridian, which is a central element causing the Svalgaard-Mansurov effect. FC 2 flows are excited by the ionospheric Pedersen current closure of the northernmost pair of Birkeland currents in the four-sheet current system, which is coupled to the tail magnetopause and flank low-latitude boundary layer. This study is based on a review of recent statistical and event studies of central parameters relating to the magnetosphere-ionosphere current systems mentioned above. Temporal-spatial structure in the current systems is obtained by ground-satellite conjunction studies. On this point we emphasize the important information derived from the continuous ground monitoring of the dynamical behaviour of aurora and plasma convection during intervals of well-organised solar wind plasma and magnetic field conditions in interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) during their Earth passage.

scholarly journals Multi-instrument observation of simultaneous polar cap auroras on open and closed magnetic field lines

2017 ◽  
Vol 122 (4) ◽  
pp. 4367-4386 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. Reidy ◽  
R. C. Fear ◽  
D. K. Whiter ◽  
B. S. Lanchester ◽  
A. J. Kavanagh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Polar Cap ◽  
Field Lines ◽  
Instrument Observation

scholarly journals Magnetohydrodynamic evolution of magnetic skeletons

2007 ◽  
Vol 463 (2080) ◽  
pp. 1097-1115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew L Haynes ◽  
Clare E Parnell ◽  
Klaus Galsgaard ◽  
Eric R Priest
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Magnetic Flux ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Heating Process ◽  
Initial State ◽  
Fundamental Building Block ◽  
New Type ◽  
Field Lines ◽  
First Time ◽  
The Magnetic Field

The heating of the solar corona is probably due to reconnection of the highly complex magnetic field that threads throughout its volume. We have run a numerical experiment of an elementary interaction between the magnetic field of two photospheric sources in an overlying field that represents a fundamental building block of the coronal heating process. The key to explaining where, how and how much energy is released during such an interaction is to calculate the resulting evolution of the magnetic skeleton. A skeleton is essentially the web of magnetic flux surfaces (called separatrix surfaces) that separate the coronal volume into topologically distinct parts. For the first time, the skeleton of the magnetic field in a three-dimensional numerical magnetohydrodynamic experiment is calculated and carefully analysed, as are the ways in which it bifurcates into different topologies. A change in topology normally changes the number of magnetic reconnection sites. In our experiment, the magnetic field evolves through a total of six distinct topologies. Initially, no magnetic flux joins the two sources. Then, a new type of bifurcation, called a global double-separator bifurcation , takes place. This bifurcation is probably one of the main ways in which new separators are created in the corona (separators are field lines at which three-dimensional reconnection takes place). This is the first of five bifurcations in which the skeleton becomes progressively more complex before simplifying. Surprisingly, for such a simple initial state, at the peak of complexity there are five separators and eight flux domains present.

scholarly journals Global MHD Simulation of the Weak Southward IMF Condition for Different Time Resolutions

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyung Sun Park
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Electric Field ◽  
Magnetic Reconnection ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Slow Solar Wind ◽  
Polar Cap ◽  
Plasma Properties ◽  
Simulation Results ◽  
Field Lines ◽  
The Impact

We performed high-resolution three-dimensional global MHD simulations to determine the impact of weak southward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) (Bz = −2 nT) and slow solar wind to the Earth’s magnetosphere and ionosphere. We considered two cases of differing, uniform time resolution with the same grid spacing simulation to find any possible differences in the simulation results. The simulation results show that dayside magnetic reconnection and tail reconnection continuously occur even during the weak and steady southward IMF conditions. A plasmoid is generated on closed plasma sheet field lines. Vortices are formed in the inner side of the magnetopause due to the viscous-like interaction, which is strengthened by dayside magnetic reconnection. We estimated the dayside magnetic reconnection which occurred in relation to the electric field at the magnetopause and confirmed that the enhanced electric field is caused by the reconnection and the twisted structure of the electric field is due to the vortex. The simulation results of the magnetic field and the plasma properties show quasi-periodic variations with a period of 9–11 min between the appearances of vortices. Also the peak values of the cross-polar cap potential are both approximately 50 kV, the occurrence time of dayside reconnections are the same, and the polar cap potential patterns are the same in both cases. Thus, there are no significant differences in outcome between the two cases.

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