Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Recent observations show very near‐Earth reconnection (∼8–13RE) could efficiently power the ring current during the main phase of geomagnetic storms, but whether the recovery phase might be contributed remains unclear. During the recovery phase of the May 2024 major geomagnetic storm, intense auroral brightening and geomagnetic disturbances were observed at midnight, indicative of particle injections. Current wedges observed by mid‐latitude ground magnetometers around midnight suggest dipolarizing flux bundles (DFBs). The latitude of the auroral brightening was clearly lower than usual, suggesting near‐Earth reconnection (NERX) was closer to Earth than during substorms (∼20–30RE). GOES‐18 at midnight detected magnetic field and plasma signatures consistent with DFBs, following an extremely thin current sheet likely compressed by strong upstream dynamic pressure. These results indicate NERX could have been close enough for resultant DFBs to penetrate geosynchronous orbit and contribute to the ring current during the recovery phase. This scenario deserves further examination in future.
Source: Geophysical Research Letters
DOI: 10.1029/2024gl112730
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,900
Awards: Collaborative Research: Supersubstorms--Their Driving and Responses in the Magnetosphere, Ionosphere, and Thermosphere, G1670388123, G2034183575, G2101132458, G338483129, G3746634629, G4205472655, G4294834840, G4662576929, G4976935830, G54188565, Collaborative Research: Flow Channel Control of Substorm Expansion Phase Spatial Coverage and Duration, G6864554860, G7188116400, G7510150469, G8984327907
OpenAlex ID: W4405316658