Centre d'etude des Environnements Terrestre et Planetaires (CETP)
10-12, AVENUE DE L"EUROPE
SF2A- PNPS- PNP- PNST-
78140
VELIZY, FRANCE
Presentation 1 : Oral
Rapid changes of the magnetic field topology in the magnetotail: theory and
CLUSTER observations (PNST)
Le Contel O., Roux A., Perraut S., Pellat R., Robert P., Chanteur G., Fontaine D., Sauvaud J.-A., Andre M., Balogh A., Cornilleau-Wehrlin N., Fazakerley A., Reme H.
Local as well as global changes of the magnetic field topology in the
magnetotail have been observed by the four spacecrafts CLUSTER. The
very short timescales and the specific spatial structures of these changes of
topology do not correspond to the classical view associated with
the formation of a X line by a tearing instability. We suggest a
new mechanism based on an instability driven by a parallel current and we
test it against CLUSTER observations.