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Rippled Quasiperpendicular Shock Observed by the Magnetospheric Multiscale Spacecraft

A. Johlander, S. J. Schwartz, A. Vaivads, Yu. V. Khotyaintsev, I. Gingell, I. B. Peng, S. Markidis, P.-A. Lindqvist, R. E. Ergun, G. T. Marklund, F. Plaschke, W. Magnes, R. J. Strangeway, C. T. Russell, H. Wei, R. B. Torbert, W. R. Paterson, D. J. Gershman, J. C. Dorelli, L. A. Avanov, B. Lavraud, Y. Saito, B. L. Giles, C. J. Pollock, and J. L. Burch
Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 165101 – Published 12 October 2016
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Abstract

Collisionless shock nonstationarity arising from microscale physics influences shock structure and particle acceleration mechanisms. Nonstationarity has been difficult to quantify due to the small spatial and temporal scales. We use the closely spaced (subgyroscale), high-time-resolution measurements from one rapid crossing of Earth’s quasiperpendicular bow shock by the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft to compare competing nonstationarity processes. Using MMS’s high-cadence kinetic plasma measurements, we show that the shock exhibits nonstationarity in the form of ripples.

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  • Received 10 June 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.165101

This article is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Plasma Physics

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Inside a Plasma Shock

Published 12 October 2016

Satellites orbiting near the edge of Earth’s magnetosphere have measured the velocities of ions accelerated by a shockwave with unprecedented temporal resolution.

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Authors & Affiliations

A. Johlander1,2, S. J. Schwartz3,4, A. Vaivads1, Yu. V. Khotyaintsev1, I. Gingell3, I. B. Peng5, S. Markidis5, P.-A. Lindqvist5, R. E. Ergun4, G. T. Marklund5, F. Plaschke6, W. Magnes6, R. J. Strangeway7, C. T. Russell7, H. Wei7, R. B. Torbert8, W. R. Paterson9, D. J. Gershman9,10, J. C. Dorelli9, L. A. Avanov9, B. Lavraud11,12, Y. Saito13, B. L. Giles9, C. J. Pollock9, and J. L. Burch14

  • 1Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Uppsala 75121, Sweden
  • 2Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Uppsala 75120, Sweden
  • 3Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
  • 4Laboratory of Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80303, USA
  • 5KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm 11428, Sweden
  • 6Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Graz 8042, Austria
  • 7University of California, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA
  • 8University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire 03824, USA
  • 9NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, USA
  • 10University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA
  • 11Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie, Université de Toulouse, Toulouse 31028, France
  • 12Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR 5277, Toulouse 31400, France
  • 13Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, JAXA, Sagamihara 2525210, Japan
  • 14Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas 78238, USA

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Issue

Vol. 117, Iss. 16 — 14 October 2016

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