Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission Observations of the Outer Electron Diffusion Region

Abstract

This paper presents Magnetospheric Multiscale mission (MMS) observations of the exhaust region in the vicinity of the central reconnection site in Earth's magnetopause current sheet. High-time-resolution measurements of field and particle distributions enable us to explore the fine structure of the diffusion region near the X line. Ions are decoupled from the magnetic field throughout the entire current sheet crossing. Electron jets flow downstream from the X line at speeds greater than the E by B drift velocity. At or around the magnetospheric separatrix, large-amplitude electric fields containing field-aligned components accelerate electrons along the magnetic field toward the X line. Near the neutral sheet, crescent-shaped electron distributions appear coincident with (1) an out-of-plane electric field whose polarity is opposite to that of the reconnection electric field and (2) the energy transfer from bulk kinetic to field energy. The observations indicate that MMS passed through the edge of an elongated electron diffusion region (EDR) or the outer EDR in the exhaust region.