Properties of the Magnetotail Plasma Sheet at Lunar Orbit

Abstract:

Lunar orbit (~60 RE) in the magnetotail is in between the most probable locations of the near-Earth and distant tail neutral lines. Therefore,
observations at Lunar orbit are important to understand relative roles of reconnections and reconnection-related processes in the near-Earth plasma sheet and the distant tail. The dual-probe ARTEMIS mission, for the first time, provides the systematic two-point observations of the magnetotail plasma sheet at Lunar orbit. In this work we investigate the dependence of the plasma sheet structure and plasma properties on the plasma sheet activity. We present results of statistical studies of the lunar-distance plasma sheet properties such as magnetic field components and their variations, plasma density, temperature, pressure tensor components, and particle spectra observed during quiet times (|Vxy|<100 km/s), during earthward (Vx>100 km/s) and tailward (Vx<-100 km/s) fast flow intervals.