Journal
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
Volume 45, Issue 10, Pages 4550-4558Publisher
AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION
DOI: 10.1002/2018GL077281
Keywords
Mars; MAVEN; magnetic reconnection; crustal magnetic field
Categories
Funding
- MAVEN project
- French space agency CNES
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The identification of magnetic reconnection on the dayside of Mars has been elusive owing to the lack of comprehensive plasma and field measurements. Here we present direct measurements of dayside in situ reconnection signatures by the comprehensive particles and fields package on board the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft over strong crustal magnetic fields in the southern hemisphere of Mars. During a crossing of a bifurcated current sheet consisting of northward and southward magnetic fields, MAVEN recorded (i) ionospheric photoelectrons trapped on closed magnetic field lines, (ii) Hall magnetic fields and a nonzero normal field with polarity consistent with a crossing northward of the X line, and (iii) northward Alfvenic ion jets. Dayside magnetic reconnection on crustal magnetic fields could control the global configuration and topology of the Martian magnetosphere and alter the ion escape pattern from the dayside ionosphere.
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