Work

Ubiquitous Occurrences of Multiscale Layers of Magnetic Reconnection across a Solar Wind Stream Interaction Region at 1 au

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: We present a first record of significantly enhanced occurrences of magnetic reconnection exhausts as measured by the Wind satellite across a stream interaction region (SIR) at 1 au from 2019 January 4 10:11:20 UT to 2019 January 5 09:58:00 UT. The activity is clustered in a slow wind compression regime ahead of the SIR interface with a deflected, compressed fast wind. The 43 exhausts of this 1 day SIR dominate a distribution of 71 exhausts as obtained by a multiwindow sliding technique application to the 8 day period on 2019 January 1–9. Active current sheets inside the SIR are associated with normal directions mostly near the ecliptic plane and a more azimuthal-than-Parker magnetic field direction at 1 au. We find that exhausts wider than 500 ion inertial lengths are typically present just upstream and inside this SIR rather than within unperturbed slow and fast winds beyond a shocked solar wind. The observations suggest that plasma and field compressions may be crucial elements in driving a breakup of large-scale current sheets embedded in SIRs into smaller, multilayered current sheet segments through magnetic reconnection.

Source: The Astrophysical Journal Letters

DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/adfa90

Authors: S. Eriksson, A. Chasapis, A. Mallet, M. Swisdak

Institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, University of Maryland, College Park

Language: English

Topic: Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics

Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,400

Funder: National Aeronautics and Space Administration