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Magnetic structure of the distant geotail from -60 to -220 earth radii - ISEE-3ISEE-3 magnetic-field measurements in the region of the geomagnetic tail from -80 to -220 earth radii are reported and discussed. A well-ordered field structure is found, comprising two 7-8-nT lobes separated by a plasma sheet, an embedded neutral sheet with significant By fields, and an intermittent plasma-sheet boundary layer with 5-nT-amplitude (peak-to-peak) electromagnetic waves. The plasma-sheet Bz distribution changes from principally northern orientation near the earth to an approximately equal north-south distribution at 200-220 earth radii. These findings are considered to be in general agreement with magnetic-reconnection models of the magnetosphere, with reconnection either throughout the region observed (in tearing-mode or plasmoid-formation models) or at a constant (about 220-earth-radii) or variable (40-80 to 220-earth-radii) X line (in X-line models).
Document ID
19840039889
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Tsurutani, B. T.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Slavin, J. A.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Smith, E. J.
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Okida, R.
(California Institute of Technology, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena CA, United States)
Jones, D. E.
(Brigham Young University Provo, UT, United States)
Date Acquired
August 12, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1984
Publication Information
Publication: Geophysical Research Letters
Volume: 11
ISSN: 0094-8276
Subject Category
Geophysics
Accession Number
84A22676
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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