Corotating Magnetic Reconnection Site in Saturn’s Magnetosphere
- UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory, Dorking RH5 6NT (United Kingdom)
- Laboratoire de Physique Atmosphérique et Planétaire, STAR institute, Université de Liège, B-4000 Liège (Belgium)
- Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, Space and Atmospheric Physics Group, Department of Physics, London SW7 2BW (United Kingdom)
- Key Laboratory of Earth and Planetary Physics, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China)
- School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing (China)
Using measurements from the Cassini spacecraft in Saturn’s magnetosphere, we propose a 3D physical picture of a corotating reconnection site, which can only be driven by an internally generated source. Our results demonstrate that the corotating magnetic reconnection can drive an expansion of the current sheet in Saturn’s magnetosphere and, consequently, can produce Fermi acceleration of electrons. This reconnection site lasted for longer than one of Saturn’s rotation period. The long-lasting and corotating natures of the magnetic reconnection site at Saturn suggest fundamentally different roles of magnetic reconnection in driving magnetospheric dynamics (e.g., the auroral precipitation) from the Earth. Our corotating reconnection picture could also potentially shed light on the fast rotating magnetized plasma environments in the solar system and beyond.
- OSTI ID:
- 22654391
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal Letters, Vol. 846, Issue 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2041-8205
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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