Letter abstract
Nature Physics 3, 609 - 613 (2007)
Published online: 24 June 2007 | doi:10.1038/nphys650
Subject Categories: Plasma physics | Astrophysics
Satellite observations of separator-line geometry of three-dimensional magnetic reconnection
C. J. Xiao1, X. G. Wang2,3, Z. Y. Pu4, Z. W. Ma5,6, H. Zhao1, G. P. Zhou1, J. X. Wang1, M. G. Kivelson7, S. Y. Fu4, Z. X. Liu8, Q. G. Zong9, M. W. Dunlop10, K.-H. Glassmeier11, E. Lucek12, H. Reme13, I. Dandouras13 & C. P. Escoubet14
Detection of a separator line that connects magnetic nulls and the determination of the dynamics and plasma environment of such a structure can improve our understanding of the three-dimensional (3D) magnetic reconnection process1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. However, this type of field and particle configuration has not been directly observed in space plasmas. Here we report the identification of a pair of nulls, the null–null line that connects them, and associated fans and spines in the magnetotail of the Earth using data from the four Cluster spacecraft. With di and de designating the ion and electron inertial lengths, respectively, the separation between the nulls is found to be 
0.7
0.3di and an associated oscillation is identified as a lower-hybrid wave with wavelength de. This in situ evidence of the full 3D reconnection geometry and associated dynamics provides an important step towards establishing an observational framework of 3D reconnection.
- National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100012, China
- School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
- State Key Lab of Materials Modification by Beams, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China
- School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
- Institute for Fusion Theory and Simulation, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
- Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230031, China
- Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA
- CSSAR, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080, China
- Center for Atmospheric Research, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, Massachusetts 01854-3629, USA
- Space Sciences Division, SSTD, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, Oxfordshire, OX11 0QX, UK
- IGEP, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany
- Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College, London, UK
- Centre d'Etude Spatiale des Rayonnements, BP 4346, 31028 Toulouse Cedex 4, France
- ESA/ESTEC, Postbus 299, 2200 AG Noordwijk, The Netherlands
Correspondence to: C. J. Xiao1 e-mail: cjxiao@ourstar.bao.ac.cn
Correspondence to: Z. Y. Pu4 e-mail: zypu@pku.edu.cn
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