Localized Reconnection in the Near Jovian Magnetotail

摘要

The oppositely directed magnetic field in the jovian magnetic tail is expected eventually to reconnect across the current sheet, allowing plasma produced deep inside he mag- netosphere near lo's orbit to escape in the antisolar direction down the tail. The Galileo spacecraft found localized regions of strong northward and southward field components beyong about 50 jovian radii in the postmidnight, predawn sector of the jovian mag- netosphere. These pockets of vertical magnetic fields can be stronger than the sur- rounding magnetotial and magnetodisk fields. They may result from episodic recon- nection of patches of the near jovian magentotail.