Asymmetry in the Earth’s magnetotail neutral sheet rotation due to IMF $$B_y$$ B y sign?
Abstract Evidence suggests that a non-zero dawn–dusk interplanetary magnetic field (IMF $$B_y$$ B y ) can cause a rotation of the cross-tail current sheet/neutral sheet around its axis aligned with the Sun–Earth line in Earth’s magnetotail. We use Geotail, THEMIS and Cluster data to statistically in...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SpringerOpen
2021-01-01
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| Series: | Geoscience Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40562-020-00171-7 |
| _version_ | 1818960071420280832 |
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| author | Timo Pitkänen Anita Kullen Lei Cai Jong-Sun Park Heikki Vanhamäki Maria Hamrin Anita T. Aikio G. Siung Chong Alexandre De Spiegeleer Quanqi Shi |
| author_facet | Timo Pitkänen Anita Kullen Lei Cai Jong-Sun Park Heikki Vanhamäki Maria Hamrin Anita T. Aikio G. Siung Chong Alexandre De Spiegeleer Quanqi Shi |
| author_sort | Timo Pitkänen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Evidence suggests that a non-zero dawn–dusk interplanetary magnetic field (IMF $$B_y$$ B y ) can cause a rotation of the cross-tail current sheet/neutral sheet around its axis aligned with the Sun–Earth line in Earth’s magnetotail. We use Geotail, THEMIS and Cluster data to statistically investigate how the rotation of the neutral sheet depends on the sign and magnitude of IMF $$B_y$$ B y . In our dataset, we find that in the tail range of $$-30<$$ - 30 < XGSM $$<-15$$ < - 15 $$R_{\mathrm{E}}$$ R E , the degree of the neutral sheet rotation is clearly smaller, there appears no significant rotation or even, the rotation is clearly to an unexpected direction for negative IMF $$B_y$$ B y , compared to positive IMF $$B_y$$ B y . Comparison to a model by Tsyganenko et al. (2015, doi:10.5194/angeo-33-1-2015) suggests that this asymmetry in the neutral sheet rotation between positive and negative IMF $$B_y$$ B y conditions is too large to be explained only by the currently known factors. The possible cause of the asymmetry remains unclear. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T11:51:42Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7b7b694f0fed4936a2bdd315bccd2850 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2196-4092 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T11:51:42Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | SpringerOpen |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geoscience Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-7b7b694f0fed4936a2bdd315bccd28502022-12-21T19:41:47ZengSpringerOpenGeoscience Letters2196-40922021-01-018111110.1186/s40562-020-00171-7Asymmetry in the Earth’s magnetotail neutral sheet rotation due to IMF $$B_y$$ B y sign?Timo Pitkänen0Anita Kullen1Lei Cai2Jong-Sun Park3Heikki Vanhamäki4Maria Hamrin5Anita T. Aikio6G. Siung Chong7Alexandre De Spiegeleer8Quanqi Shi9Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Optical Astronomy and Solar-Terrestrial Environment, Institute of Space Sciences, Shandong UniversitySpace and Plasma Physics, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Royal Institute of TechnologySpace and Plasma Physics, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Royal Institute of TechnologyShandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Optical Astronomy and Solar-Terrestrial Environment, Institute of Space Sciences, Shandong UniversitySpace Physics and Astronomy Research Unit, University of OuluDepartment of Physics, Umeå UniversitySpace Physics and Astronomy Research Unit, University of OuluDepartment of Physics, Umeå UniversityDepartment of Physics, Umeå UniversityShandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Optical Astronomy and Solar-Terrestrial Environment, Institute of Space Sciences, Shandong UniversityAbstract Evidence suggests that a non-zero dawn–dusk interplanetary magnetic field (IMF $$B_y$$ B y ) can cause a rotation of the cross-tail current sheet/neutral sheet around its axis aligned with the Sun–Earth line in Earth’s magnetotail. We use Geotail, THEMIS and Cluster data to statistically investigate how the rotation of the neutral sheet depends on the sign and magnitude of IMF $$B_y$$ B y . In our dataset, we find that in the tail range of $$-30<$$ - 30 < XGSM $$<-15$$ < - 15 $$R_{\mathrm{E}}$$ R E , the degree of the neutral sheet rotation is clearly smaller, there appears no significant rotation or even, the rotation is clearly to an unexpected direction for negative IMF $$B_y$$ B y , compared to positive IMF $$B_y$$ B y . Comparison to a model by Tsyganenko et al. (2015, doi:10.5194/angeo-33-1-2015) suggests that this asymmetry in the neutral sheet rotation between positive and negative IMF $$B_y$$ B y conditions is too large to be explained only by the currently known factors. The possible cause of the asymmetry remains unclear.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40562-020-00171-7Solar wind–magnetosphere interactionMagnetosphere configurationMagnetotailPlasma sheetNeutral sheet |
| spellingShingle | Timo Pitkänen Anita Kullen Lei Cai Jong-Sun Park Heikki Vanhamäki Maria Hamrin Anita T. Aikio G. Siung Chong Alexandre De Spiegeleer Quanqi Shi Asymmetry in the Earth’s magnetotail neutral sheet rotation due to IMF $$B_y$$ B y sign? Geoscience Letters Solar wind–magnetosphere interaction Magnetosphere configuration Magnetotail Plasma sheet Neutral sheet |
| title | Asymmetry in the Earth’s magnetotail neutral sheet rotation due to IMF $$B_y$$ B y sign? |
| title_full | Asymmetry in the Earth’s magnetotail neutral sheet rotation due to IMF $$B_y$$ B y sign? |
| title_fullStr | Asymmetry in the Earth’s magnetotail neutral sheet rotation due to IMF $$B_y$$ B y sign? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Asymmetry in the Earth’s magnetotail neutral sheet rotation due to IMF $$B_y$$ B y sign? |
| title_short | Asymmetry in the Earth’s magnetotail neutral sheet rotation due to IMF $$B_y$$ B y sign? |
| title_sort | asymmetry in the earth s magnetotail neutral sheet rotation due to imf b y b y sign |
| topic | Solar wind–magnetosphere interaction Magnetosphere configuration Magnetotail Plasma sheet Neutral sheet |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40562-020-00171-7 |
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