NDLI: Magnetic Reconnection and Associated Transient Phenomena Within the Magnetospheres of Jupiter and Saturn

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Louarn, Philippe Andre, Nicolas Jackman, Caitriona M. Kasahara, Satoshi Kronberg, Elena A. Vogt, Marissa F.
Copyright Year	2014
Abstract	We review in situ observations made in Jupiter and Saturn’s magnetosphere that illustrate the possible roles of magnetic reconnection in rapidly-rotating magnetospheres. In the Earth’s solar wind-driven magnetosphere, the magnetospheric convection is classically described as a cycle of dayside opening and tail closing reconnection (the Dungey cycle). For the rapidly-rotating Jovian and Kronian magnetospheres, heavily populated by internal plasma sources, the classical concept (the Vasyliunas cycle) is that the magnetic reconnection plays a key role in the final stage of the radial plasma transport across the disk. By cutting and closing flux tubes that have been elongated by the rotational stress, the reconnection process would lead to the formation of plasmoids that propagate down the tail, contributing to the final evacuation of the internally produced plasma and allowing the return of the magnetic flux toward the planet. This process has been studied by inspecting possible ‘local’ signatures of the reconnection, as magnetic field reversals, plasma flow anisotropies, energetic particle bursts, and more global consequences on the magnetospheric activity.The investigations made at Jupiter support the concept of an ‘average’ X-line, extended in the dawn/dusk direction and located at 90–120 Jovian radius (R$_{J}$) on the night side. The existence of a similar average X-line has not yet been established at Saturn, perhaps by lack of statistics. Both at Jupiter and Saturn, the reconfiguration signatures are consistent with magnetospheric dipolarizations and formation of plasmoids and flux ropes. In several cases, the reconfigurations also appear to be closely associated with large scale activations of the magnetosphere, seen from the radio and auroral emissions. Nevertheless, the statistical study also suggests that the reconnection events and the associated plasmoids are not frequent enough to explain a plasma evacuation that matches the mass input rate from the satellites and the rings. Different forms of transport should thus act together to evacuate the plasma, which still needs to be established. Investigations of reconnection signatures at the magnetopause and other processes as the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability are also reviewed. A provisional conclusion would be that the dayside reconnection is unlikely a crucial process in the overall dynamics. On the small scales, the detailed analysis of one reconnection event at Jupiter shows that the local plasma signatures (field-aligned flows, energetic particle bursts…) are very similar to those observed at Earth, with likely a similar scaling with respect to characteristic kinetic lengths (Larmor radius and inertial scales).
Starting Page	181
Ending Page	227
Page Count	47
File Format	PDF
ISSN	00386308
Journal	Space Science Reviews
Volume Number	187
Issue Number	1-4
e-ISSN	15729672
Language	English
Publisher	Springer Netherlands
Publisher Date	2014-05-15
Publisher Place	Dordrecht
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	Magnetosphere Giant planet Extraterrestrial Physics, Space Sciences Planetology Aerospace Technology and Astronautics Astrophysics and Astroparticles
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Astronomy and Astrophysics Space and Planetary Science

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1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
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