Complex Interaction of Reconnected Field Lines at Earth's Magnetopause Under Sub-Alfvénic Solar Wind With Northward Magnetic Field

Abstract

We present observations on 24 April 2023 by the Magnetospheric Multiscale spacecraft at the dayside, mid-latitude magnetopause, when an interplanetary magnetic cloud (MC) with sub-Alfvénic flows and northward and dawnward interplanetary magnetic field components impacted Earth's magnetosphere. The aim is to reveal the processes of solar wind-magnetosphere interaction under sub-Alfvénic solar wind with northward magnetic field. Our analysis of electron and ion data suggests that magnetopause reconnection occurred near both polar cusps, forming boundary layers on closed magnetic field lines on both the solar wind (i.e., MC) and magnetospheric sides of the magnetopause. Grad-Shafranov, electron-magnetohydrodynamics, and polynomial reconstructions of magnetopause current layers show that local (equator-of-the-cusp) reconnection occurred in a sub-ion-scale magnetopause current sheet with a low magnetic shear angle (30°). Interestingly, the local reconnection was observed between the two (MC-side and magnetosphere-side) layers of closed field lines. It indicates that reconnected field lines from double cusp reconnection were interacting to induce another reconnection at the mid-latitude magnetopause. Our results suggest that magnetopause reconnection was more efficient or frequent under sub-Alfvénic solar wind with much lower beta plasma conditions than typical conditions. We discuss the role of such efficient reconnection in the formation of low-latitude boundary layers.