Turbulence Surrounding Magnetosheath Jets: Are Pressure Enhancement Stirring the Magnetosheath?
Year: 2025
Type: conference-abstract
Abstract: Earth’s magnetosheath, the region between Earth’ magnetic field and the bow shock, gives rise to a plethora of transients, waves, and instabilities. Each effect changes the plasma parameter distribution, impacting the behaviour of the plasma that finally hits our magnetic field. Turbulence plays a crucial role in how energy injected into the system by transients or instabilities is transported and dissipated from large to small scales. We are investigating the role magnetosheath pressure enhancements (or so-called jets) play in adding to the turbulence in the system. These jets often plough through the system with high velocity, interacting with the surrounding environment, and slow down the further they travel. The propagation of jets is still largely unexplored, in particular when considering plasma turbulence. We aim to quantify whether jets drive turbulence in the magnetosheath plasma, and whether turbulent plasma fluctuations impact the propagation of jets. Magnetic orientation and distance to the shock are considered in the analysis in order to disentangle their impact on the effects. We are using MMS spacecraft measurements for the analysis of individual jet cases, and THEMIS spacecraft for a statistical analysis at event times when several spacecraft were close to the flow of jet events.
Authors: Florian Koller, Christopher Chen, Heli Hietala
Institutions: University of Graz, Queen Mary University of London
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
OpenAlex ID: W4408431040