Global hybrid simulations of soft X-ray emissions in the Earth’s magnetosheath
Earth’s magnetopause is a thin boundary separating the shocked solar wind plasma from the magnetospheric plasmas, and it is also the boundary of the solar wind energy transport to the magnetosphere. Soft X-ray imaging allows investigation of the large-scale magnetopause by providing a two-dimensiona...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Science Press
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Earth and Planetary Physics |
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| Online Access: | http://www.eppcgs.org/article/doi/10.26464/epp2023053?pageType=en |
| _version_ | 1797347753436643328 |
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| author | Jin Guo TianRan Sun San Lu QuanMing Lu Yu Lin XueYi Wang Chi Wang RongSheng Wang Kai Huang |
| author_facet | Jin Guo TianRan Sun San Lu QuanMing Lu Yu Lin XueYi Wang Chi Wang RongSheng Wang Kai Huang |
| author_sort | Jin Guo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Earth’s magnetopause is a thin boundary separating the shocked solar wind plasma from the magnetospheric plasmas, and it is also the boundary of the solar wind energy transport to the magnetosphere. Soft X-ray imaging allows investigation of the large-scale magnetopause by providing a two-dimensional (2-D) global view from a satellite. By performing 3-D global hybrid-particle-in-cell (hybrid-PIC) simulations, we obtain soft X-ray images of Earth’s magnetopause under different solar wind conditions, such as different plasma densities and directions of the southward interplanetary magnetic field. In all cases, magnetic reconnection occurs at low latitude magnetopause. The soft X-ray images observed by a hypothetical satellite are shown, with all of the following identified: the boundary of the magnetopause, the cusps, and the magnetosheath. Local X-ray emissivity in the magnetosheath is characterized by large amplitude fluctuations (up to 160%); however, the maximum line-of-sight-integrated X-ray intensity matches the tangent directions of the magnetopause well, indicating that these fluctuations have limited impact on identifying the magnetopause boundary in the X-ray images. Moreover, the magnetopause boundary can be identified using multiple viewing geometries. We also find that solar wind conditions have little effect on the magnetopause identification. The Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) mission will provide X-ray images of the magnetopause for the first time, and our global hybrid-PIC simulation results can help better understand the 2-D X-ray images of the magnetopause from a 3-D perspective, with particle kinetic effects considered. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T11:52:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6ec1c28461464494afcfd1adfc59a484 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2096-3955 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T11:52:22Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Science Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Earth and Planetary Physics |
| spelling | doaj.art-6ec1c28461464494afcfd1adfc59a4842024-01-24T06:27:11ZengScience PressEarth and Planetary Physics2096-39552024-01-0181475810.26464/epp2023053SI8378-guojin-FGlobal hybrid simulations of soft X-ray emissions in the Earth’s magnetosheathJin Guo0TianRan Sun1San Lu2QuanMing Lu3Yu Lin4XueYi Wang5Chi Wang6RongSheng Wang7Kai Huang8School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, ChinaNational Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, ChinaSchool of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, ChinaSchool of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, ChinaPhysics Department, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USAPhysics Department, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USANational Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, ChinaSchool of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, ChinaSchool of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, ChinaEarth’s magnetopause is a thin boundary separating the shocked solar wind plasma from the magnetospheric plasmas, and it is also the boundary of the solar wind energy transport to the magnetosphere. Soft X-ray imaging allows investigation of the large-scale magnetopause by providing a two-dimensional (2-D) global view from a satellite. By performing 3-D global hybrid-particle-in-cell (hybrid-PIC) simulations, we obtain soft X-ray images of Earth’s magnetopause under different solar wind conditions, such as different plasma densities and directions of the southward interplanetary magnetic field. In all cases, magnetic reconnection occurs at low latitude magnetopause. The soft X-ray images observed by a hypothetical satellite are shown, with all of the following identified: the boundary of the magnetopause, the cusps, and the magnetosheath. Local X-ray emissivity in the magnetosheath is characterized by large amplitude fluctuations (up to 160%); however, the maximum line-of-sight-integrated X-ray intensity matches the tangent directions of the magnetopause well, indicating that these fluctuations have limited impact on identifying the magnetopause boundary in the X-ray images. Moreover, the magnetopause boundary can be identified using multiple viewing geometries. We also find that solar wind conditions have little effect on the magnetopause identification. The Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) mission will provide X-ray images of the magnetopause for the first time, and our global hybrid-PIC simulation results can help better understand the 2-D X-ray images of the magnetopause from a 3-D perspective, with particle kinetic effects considered.http://www.eppcgs.org/article/doi/10.26464/epp2023053?pageType=enmagnetopausex-ray emissivityx-ray imagingsmileglobal hybrid-pic simulation |
| spellingShingle | Jin Guo TianRan Sun San Lu QuanMing Lu Yu Lin XueYi Wang Chi Wang RongSheng Wang Kai Huang Global hybrid simulations of soft X-ray emissions in the Earth’s magnetosheath Earth and Planetary Physics magnetopause x-ray emissivity x-ray imaging smile global hybrid-pic simulation |
| title | Global hybrid simulations of soft X-ray emissions in the Earth’s magnetosheath |
| title_full | Global hybrid simulations of soft X-ray emissions in the Earth’s magnetosheath |
| title_fullStr | Global hybrid simulations of soft X-ray emissions in the Earth’s magnetosheath |
| title_full_unstemmed | Global hybrid simulations of soft X-ray emissions in the Earth’s magnetosheath |
| title_short | Global hybrid simulations of soft X-ray emissions in the Earth’s magnetosheath |
| title_sort | global hybrid simulations of soft x ray emissions in the earth s magnetosheath |
| topic | magnetopause x-ray emissivity x-ray imaging smile global hybrid-pic simulation |
| url | http://www.eppcgs.org/article/doi/10.26464/epp2023053?pageType=en |
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