Magnetic Reconnection in the Near Venusian Magnetotail

Observations with the Venus Express magnetometer and low-energy particle detector revealed magnetic field and plasma behavior in the near-Venus wake that is symptomatic of magnetic reconnection, a process that occurs in Earth's magnetotail but is not expected in the magnetotail of a nonmagnetiz...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2012-05, Vol.336 (6081), p.567-570
Main Authors: Zhang, T. L., Lu, Q. M., Baumjohann, W., Russell, C. T., Fedorov, A., Barabash, S., Coates, A. J., Du, A. M., Cao, J. B., Nakamura, R., Teh, W. L., Wang, R. S., Dou, X. K., Wang, S., Glassmeier, K. H., Auster, H. U., Balikhin, M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Astronomy
Comets
Earth
Earth, ocean, space
Electric fields
Electrons
Energy
European Space Agency
Exact sciences and technology
Ionospheres
magnetospheres
Ions
Kinetic energy
Kinetics
Magnetic fields
Magnetic flux
Mercury (planet)
Planetary magnetic fields
Planetary magnetospheres
Planetary, asteroid, and satellite characteristics and properties
Planetology
Planets, their satellites and rings. Asteroids
Plasma
Plasmas
Saturn (planet)
Solar system
Space plasmas
Spacecraft
Topology
Venus
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Summary:Observations with the Venus Express magnetometer and low-energy particle detector revealed magnetic field and plasma behavior in the near-Venus wake that is symptomatic of magnetic reconnection, a process that occurs in Earth's magnetotail but is not expected in the magnetotail of a nonmagnetized planet such as Venus. On 15 May 2006, the plasma flow in this region was toward the planet, and the magnetic field component transverse to the flow was reversed. Magnetic reconnection is a plasma process that changes the topology of the magnetic field and results in energy exchange between the magnetic field and the plasma. Thus, the energetics of the Venus magnetotail resembles that of the terrestrial tail, where energy is stored and later released from the magnetic field to the plasma.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1217013