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Evidence of high‐latitude reconnecting during northward IMF: Hawkeye observations
Author(s) -
Kessel R. L.,
Chen S.H.,
Green J. L.,
Fung S. F.,
Boardsen S. A.,
Tan L. C.,
Eastman T. E.,
Craven J. D.,
Frank L. A.
Publication year - 1996
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 - 10.1029/95gl03083
Subject(s) - magnetopause , magnetic reconnection , geophysics , interplanetary magnetic field , solar wind , physics , latitude , ionosphere , geology , atmospheric sciences , magnetic field , astronomy , quantum mechanics
Reconnection is accepted as an important process for driving the solar wind/magnetospheric interaction although it is not fully understood. In particular, reconnection for northward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) at high‐latitudes tailward of the cusp, has received little attention in comparison with equatorial reconnection for southward IMF. Using Hawkeye data we present the first direct observations of reconnection at the high‐latitude magnetopause (75°) during northward IMF in the form of sunward flowing protons. This flow is nearly field aligned, approximately Alfvénic, and roughly obeys tangential momentum balance. The magnetic field shear is large at the magnetopause and there is a non‐zero B N component suggesting the existence of a rotational discontinuity and reconnection. The Hawkeye observations support several recent simulations at least qualitatively in terms of flow directions expected for high‐latitude reconnection during northward IMF.