Observations of Electron‐Only Magnetic Reconnection Associated With Macroscopic Magnetic Flux Ropes
Hengyan Man, Meng Zhou, Yongyuan Yi, Zhihong Zhong, Anmin Tian, Xiaohua Deng, Y. V. Khotyaintsev, C. T. Russell, B. L. Giles
Abstract
Abstract We report a Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission observation of magnetic reconnection occurring at the edge of a large‐scale magnetic flux rope (MFR), the cross‐section of which was about 2 R E . The MFR was observed at the duskside in the Earth's magnetotail and was highly oblique with its axis approximately along the X GSM direction. We find an electron‐scale current sheet near the edge of this MFR. The Hall magnetic and electric field, super‐Alfvénic electron outflow, parallel electric field, and positive energy dissipation were observed associated with the current sheet, which indicates that MMS detected a reconnecting current sheet with a large guide field. Interestingly, ions were not coupled in this reconnection, akin to the electron‐only reconnection observed in the turbulent magnetosheath. We further find that the electron‐only reconnection is commonly associated with a macroscopic MFR. This result will shed new light on understanding the multiscale coupling associated with an MFR in space plasmas.