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Five spacecraft observations of oppositely directed exhaust jets from a magnetic reconnection X‐line extending > 4.26 × 10 6 km in the solar wind at 1 AU
Author(s) -
Gosling J. T.,
Eriksson S.,
Blush L. M.,
Phan T. D.,
Luhmann J. G.,
McComas D. J.,
Skoug R. M.,
Acuna M. H.,
Russell C. T.,
Simunac K. D.
Publication year - 2007
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 - 10.1029/2007gl031492
Subject(s) - magnetic reconnection , physics , solar wind , spacecraft , plasma , astrophysics , line (geometry) , astronomy , geometry , mathematics , quantum mechanics
Observations of oppositely directed plasma jets within an extended, bifurcated current sheet in the solar wind by a flotilla of five well‐separated spacecraft (STEREO A and B, ACE, Wind and Geotail) on 11 March 2007 demonstrate that magnetic reconnection X‐lines in the solar wind can extend to distances at least as great as 4.26 × 10 6 km (0.0284 AU) in the presence of a significant and variable guide field. The observations also indicate that reconnection in the solar wind can persist for at least 5 hours and 20 minutes. These minimum values are the largest yet obtained from direct measurements of reconnection exhaust flows in a space plasma. Both dynamic processes in the reconnection region and the spherical expansion of the solar wind probably contribute to the production of long X‐lines in the solar wind.