Energetic Electrons Observed Inside Magnetic Holes in the Magnetotail

Yi Xie; Rongsheng Wang; Xinmin Li; Shimou Wang; Keming Fan; Quanming Lu; Xinliang Gao; San Lu

doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ad479f

The Astrophysical Journal (Jan 2024)

Energetic Electrons Observed Inside Magnetic Holes in the Magnetotail

Yi Xie,
Rongsheng Wang,
Xinmin Li,
Shimou Wang,
Keming Fan,
Quanming Lu,
Xinliang Gao,
San Lu

Affiliations

Yi Xie: Deep Space Exploration Laboratory, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei, People’s Republic of China ; [email protected]; CAS Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology, CAS Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment, Anhui Mengcheng National Geophysical Observatory, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei, People’s Republic of China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Astronautical Science and Technology , Harbin, People’s Republic of China
Rongsheng Wang: ORCiD; Deep Space Exploration Laboratory, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei, People’s Republic of China ; [email protected]; CAS Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology, CAS Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment, Anhui Mengcheng National Geophysical Observatory, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei, People’s Republic of China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Astronautical Science and Technology , Harbin, People’s Republic of China
Xinmin Li: ORCiD; Deep Space Exploration Laboratory, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei, People’s Republic of China ; [email protected]; CAS Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology, CAS Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment, Anhui Mengcheng National Geophysical Observatory, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei, People’s Republic of China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Astronautical Science and Technology , Harbin, People’s Republic of China
Shimou Wang: ORCiD; Deep Space Exploration Laboratory, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei, People’s Republic of China ; [email protected]; CAS Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology, CAS Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment, Anhui Mengcheng National Geophysical Observatory, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei, People’s Republic of China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Astronautical Science and Technology , Harbin, People’s Republic of China
Keming Fan: Deep Space Exploration Laboratory, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei, People’s Republic of China ; [email protected]; CAS Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology, CAS Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment, Anhui Mengcheng National Geophysical Observatory, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei, People’s Republic of China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Astronautical Science and Technology , Harbin, People’s Republic of China
Quanming Lu: ORCiD; Deep Space Exploration Laboratory, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei, People’s Republic of China ; [email protected]; CAS Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology, CAS Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment, Anhui Mengcheng National Geophysical Observatory, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei, People’s Republic of China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Astronautical Science and Technology , Harbin, People’s Republic of China
Xinliang Gao: Deep Space Exploration Laboratory, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei, People’s Republic of China ; [email protected]; CAS Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology, CAS Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment, Anhui Mengcheng National Geophysical Observatory, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei, People’s Republic of China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Astronautical Science and Technology , Harbin, People’s Republic of China
San Lu: ORCiD; Deep Space Exploration Laboratory, School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei, People’s Republic of China ; [email protected]; CAS Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology, CAS Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment, Anhui Mengcheng National Geophysical Observatory, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei, People’s Republic of China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Astronautical Science and Technology , Harbin, People’s Republic of China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad479f
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 968, no. 2
p. 82

Abstract

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Magnetic holes, characterized as magnetic field depressions, have been widely observed in space plasma. Two large-scale magnetic holes, MH1 and MH2, were reported in this paper and the energetic electrons up to 100 keV were detected for the first time inside both holes. The two holes showed many similar features, comparable spatial scale, temperature and total pressure increase, and energetic electrons up to 100 keV with a power-law distribution inside them. On the other hand, distinct features were also found between these two holes. A potential ion flow vortex was detected inside the MH1 and an ion-scale magnetic structure was observed in its core region. The electron flux enhancements were associated with this ion-scale structure and the energetic electrons were nonadiabatic around the ion-scale structure inside MH1, while the energetic electrons were adiabatic inside the MH2. The mirror-mode instability was unstable around MH1 while stable around MH2, which suggested that the two holes might be in a different phase of the mirror-mode instability. The observations suggested that the electrons could be significantly accelerated inside magnetic holes in the different phases.

Published in The Astrophysical Journal

ISSN: 1538-4357 (Online)
Publisher: IOP Publishing
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Science: Astronomy: Astrophysics
Website: https://iopscience.iop.org/journal/0004-637X

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