Complex Interaction of Reconnected Field Lines at Earth’s Magnetopause
under Sub-Alfvénic Solar Wind with Northward Magnetic Field
Abstract
We present observations on 24 April 2023 by the Magnetospheric
Multiscale spacecraft at the dayside, mid-latitude magnetopause, when an
interplanetary magnetic cloud (MC) with sub-Alfvénic flows and northward
and dawnward interplanetary magnetic field components impacted Earth’s
magnetosphere. The aim is to reveal the processes of solar
wind-magnetosphere interaction under sub-Alfvénic solar wind with
northward magnetic field. Our analysis of electron and ion data suggests
that magnetopause reconnection occurred near both polar cusps, forming
boundary layers on closed magnetic field lines on both the MC and
magnetospheric sides of the magnetopause. Grad-Shafranov,
electron-magnetohydrodynamics, and polynomial reconstructions of
magnetopause current layers show that local (equator-of-the-cusp)
reconnection occurred in a sub-ion-scale magnetopause current sheet with
a low magnetic shear angle (30°). Interestingly, the local reconnection
was observed between the two (MC-side and magnetosphere-side) layers of
closed field lines. It indicates that reconnected field lines from
double cusp reconnection were interacting to induce another reconnection
at the mid-latitude magnetopause. Our results suggest that magnetopause
reconnection was more efficient or frequent under sub-Alfvénic solar
wind with much lower beta plasma conditions than typical conditions. We
will discuss the role of such efficient reconnection in the formation of
low-latitude boundary layers.