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Electron dynamics in a subproton‐gyroscale magnetic hole
Author(s) -
Gershman Daniel J.,
Dorelli John C.,
Viñas Adolfo F.,
Avanov Levon A.,
Gliese Ulrik,
Barrie Alexander C.,
Coffey Victoria,
Chandler Michael,
Dickson Charles,
MacDonald Elizabeth A.,
Salo Chad,
Holland Matthew,
Saito Yoshifumi,
Sauvaud JeanAndre,
Lavraud Benoit,
Paterson William R.,
Torbert Roy,
Chen LiJen,
Goodrich Katherine,
Russell Christopher T.,
Strangeway Robert J.,
Giles Barbara L.,
Pollock Craig J.,
Moore Thomas E.,
Burch James L.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2016gl068545
Subject(s) - gyroradius , physics , solar wind , magnetosphere , magnetosheath , plasma sheet , magnetic field , plasma , electron , magnetic reconnection , computational physics , current sheet , mercury's magnetic field , magnetosphere particle motion , geophysics , magnetometer , interplanetary magnetic field , magnetopause , magnetohydrodynamics , quantum mechanics
Magnetic holes are ubiquitous in space plasmas, occurring in the solar wind, downstream of planetary bow shocks, and inside the magnetosphere. Recently, kinetic‐scale magnetic holes have been observed near Earth's central plasma sheet. The Fast Plasma Investigation on NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission enables measurement of both ions and electrons with 2 orders of magnitude increased temporal resolution over previous magnetospheric instruments. Here we present data from MMS taken in Earth's nightside plasma sheet and use high‐resolution particle and magnetometer data to characterize the structure of a subproton‐scale magnetic hole. Electrons with gyroradii above the thermal gyroradius but below the current layer thickness carry a current sufficient to account for a ~10–20% depression in magnetic field magnitude. These observations suggest that the size and magnetic depth of kinetic‐scale magnetic holes is strongly dependent on the background plasma conditions.