Abstract
Abstract
Whistler-mode waves are one of the most important plasma waves potentially affecting the triggering and development processes of magnetic reconnection. They are widely present in the Earth’s reconnection ion diffusion region but have not yet been reported in Mars’. Based on in situ measurements from MAVEN, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission, we report for the first time whistler-mode waves in the ion diffusion region at the center of the current sheet in the Martian magnetotail. Simultaneously, pancake electron distributions with high temperature anisotropy are observed. Linear instability analyses imply that these unstable electrons can trigger the observed whistler-mode waves. Such findings not only fill the gap in observations of whistler-mode waves in the magnetic reconnection at Mars but also enrich our understanding of their generation mechanism in the reconnection region at unmagnetized planets.
Funder
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Guangdong Basic Research Foundation
B-type Strategic Priority Program by the Chinese Academy of Science
Key Research Program of the Institute of Geology & Geophysics
Science and Technology Development Fund, Macau SAR
Publisher
American Astronomical Society
Subject
Space and Planetary Science,Astronomy and Astrophysics
Cited by
4 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献