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Rotationally driven magnetic reconnection in Saturn's dayside

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Rotationally driven magnetic reconnection in Saturn's dayside. / Guo, R. L. ; Yao, Z. H. ; Wei, Y. et al.
In: Nature Astronomy, Vol. 2, 04.06.2018, p. 640-645.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

Harvard

Guo, RL, Yao, ZH, Wei, Y, Ray, LC, Rae, IJ, Arridge, CS, Coates, AJ, Delamere, PA, Sergis, N, Kollman, P, Grodent, D, Dunn, WR, Waite, JH, Burch, JL, Pu, ZY, Palmaerts, B & Dougherty, MK 2018, 'Rotationally driven magnetic reconnection in Saturn's dayside', Nature Astronomy, vol. 2, pp. 640-645. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-018-0461-9

APA

Guo, R. L., Yao, Z. H., Wei, Y., Ray, L. C., Rae, I. J., Arridge, C. S., Coates, A. J., Delamere, P. A., Sergis, N., Kollman, P., Grodent, D., Dunn, W. R., Waite, J. H., Burch, J. L., Pu, Z. Y., Palmaerts, B., & Dougherty, M. K. (2018). Rotationally driven magnetic reconnection in Saturn's dayside. Nature Astronomy, 2, 640-645. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-018-0461-9

Vancouver

Guo RL, Yao ZH, Wei Y, Ray LC, Rae IJ, Arridge CS et al. Rotationally driven magnetic reconnection in Saturn's dayside. Nature Astronomy. 2018 Jun 4;2:640-645. doi: 10.1038/s41550-018-0461-9

Author

Guo, R. L. ; Yao, Z. H. ; Wei, Y. et al. / Rotationally driven magnetic reconnection in Saturn's dayside. In: Nature Astronomy. 2018 ; Vol. 2. pp. 640-645.

Bibtex

@article{d2b887a60718400badde4f03221a7515,
title = "Rotationally driven magnetic reconnection in Saturn's dayside",
abstract = "Magnetic reconnection is a key process that explosively accelerates charged particles, generating phenomena such as nebular flares, solar flares and stunning aurorae. In planetary magnetospheres, magnetic reconnection has often been identified on the dayside magnetopause and in the nightside magnetodisc, where thin-current-sheet conditions are conducive to reconnection. The dayside magnetodisc is usually considered thicker than the nightside due to the compression of solar wind, and is therefore not an ideal environment for reconnection. In contrast, a recent statistical study of magnetic flux circulation strongly suggests that magnetic reconnection must occur throughout Saturn{\textquoteright}s dayside magnetosphere. Additionally, the source of energetic plasma can be present in the noon sector of giant planetary magnetospheres. However, so far, dayside magnetic reconnection has only been identified at the magnetopause. Here, we report direct evidence of near-noon reconnection within Saturn{\textquoteright}s magnetodisc using measurements from the Cassini spacecraft. The measured energetic electrons and ions (ranging from tens to hundreds of keV) and the estimated energy flux of ~2.6 mW m–2 within the reconnection region are sufficient to power aurorae. We suggest that dayside magnetodisc reconnection can explain bursty phenomena in the dayside magnetospheres of giant planets, which can potentially advance our understanding of quasi-periodic injections of relativistic electrons6 and auroral pulsations.",
author = "Guo, {R. L.} and Yao, {Z. H.} and Y. Wei and Ray, {Licia C} and I.J. Rae and Arridge, {Christopher Stephen} and A.J. Coates and P.A. Delamere and N. Sergis and P. Kollman and D. Grodent and W.R. Dunn and J.H. Waite and J.L. Burch and Z.Y. Pu and B. Palmaerts and M.K. Dougherty",
note = "{\textcopyright} 2018 Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature. All rights reserved.",
year = "2018",
month = jun,
day = "4",
doi = "10.1038/s41550-018-0461-9",
language = "English",
volume = "2",
pages = "640--645",
journal = "Nature Astronomy",
issn = "2397-3366",
publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Rotationally driven magnetic reconnection in Saturn's dayside

AU - Guo, R. L.

AU - Yao, Z. H.

AU - Wei, Y.

AU - Ray, Licia C

AU - Rae, I.J.

AU - Arridge, Christopher Stephen

AU - Coates, A.J.

AU - Delamere, P.A.

AU - Sergis, N.

AU - Kollman, P.

AU - Grodent, D.

AU - Dunn, W.R.

AU - Waite, J.H.

AU - Burch, J.L.

AU - Pu, Z.Y.

AU - Palmaerts, B.

AU - Dougherty, M.K.

N1 - © 2018 Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature. All rights reserved.

PY - 2018/6/4

Y1 - 2018/6/4

N2 - Magnetic reconnection is a key process that explosively accelerates charged particles, generating phenomena such as nebular flares, solar flares and stunning aurorae. In planetary magnetospheres, magnetic reconnection has often been identified on the dayside magnetopause and in the nightside magnetodisc, where thin-current-sheet conditions are conducive to reconnection. The dayside magnetodisc is usually considered thicker than the nightside due to the compression of solar wind, and is therefore not an ideal environment for reconnection. In contrast, a recent statistical study of magnetic flux circulation strongly suggests that magnetic reconnection must occur throughout Saturn’s dayside magnetosphere. Additionally, the source of energetic plasma can be present in the noon sector of giant planetary magnetospheres. However, so far, dayside magnetic reconnection has only been identified at the magnetopause. Here, we report direct evidence of near-noon reconnection within Saturn’s magnetodisc using measurements from the Cassini spacecraft. The measured energetic electrons and ions (ranging from tens to hundreds of keV) and the estimated energy flux of ~2.6 mW m–2 within the reconnection region are sufficient to power aurorae. We suggest that dayside magnetodisc reconnection can explain bursty phenomena in the dayside magnetospheres of giant planets, which can potentially advance our understanding of quasi-periodic injections of relativistic electrons6 and auroral pulsations.

AB - Magnetic reconnection is a key process that explosively accelerates charged particles, generating phenomena such as nebular flares, solar flares and stunning aurorae. In planetary magnetospheres, magnetic reconnection has often been identified on the dayside magnetopause and in the nightside magnetodisc, where thin-current-sheet conditions are conducive to reconnection. The dayside magnetodisc is usually considered thicker than the nightside due to the compression of solar wind, and is therefore not an ideal environment for reconnection. In contrast, a recent statistical study of magnetic flux circulation strongly suggests that magnetic reconnection must occur throughout Saturn’s dayside magnetosphere. Additionally, the source of energetic plasma can be present in the noon sector of giant planetary magnetospheres. However, so far, dayside magnetic reconnection has only been identified at the magnetopause. Here, we report direct evidence of near-noon reconnection within Saturn’s magnetodisc using measurements from the Cassini spacecraft. The measured energetic electrons and ions (ranging from tens to hundreds of keV) and the estimated energy flux of ~2.6 mW m–2 within the reconnection region are sufficient to power aurorae. We suggest that dayside magnetodisc reconnection can explain bursty phenomena in the dayside magnetospheres of giant planets, which can potentially advance our understanding of quasi-periodic injections of relativistic electrons6 and auroral pulsations.

U2 - 10.1038/s41550-018-0461-9

DO - 10.1038/s41550-018-0461-9

M3 - Journal article

VL - 2

SP - 640

EP - 645

JO - Nature Astronomy

JF - Nature Astronomy

SN - 2397-3366

ER -