Soft X-ray imaging of magnetopause reconnection outflows under low
plasma-$\beta$ solar wind conditions
Abstract
We examined soft X-ray emission by the solar wind charge-exchange
process around the Earth’s magnetosphere using a global
magnetohydrodynamic simulation model. The dayside magnetopause
reconnection heats and accelerates the plasma whereby the X-ray emission
becomes as bright as $\sim 6 \times
10^{-6} {\rm\ eV}\
{\rm cm}^{-3}\ {\rm
s}^{-1}$ under the southward interplanetary magnetic field
conditions. In particular, under low plasma-$\beta$
solar wind conditions, we found that the X-ray intensity reflects the
bulk motion of outflows from the reconnection region. We propose that
this particular solar wind condition would allow visualization of the
mesoscale magnetopause reconnection site, as observed in the solar
corona.