MMS Fly Along with Magnetopause Reconnection

  • Released Thursday, May 12, 2016
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Fly along with MMS satellite configuration with particle and field measurements.

In this data visualization, we fly along with the MMS spacecraft in tetrahedral formation. The mesh structure in the distance is the magnetopause.

Each image frame corresponds to a time step of 30 milliseconds, one of the faster data sampling modes for MMS.

The arrows represent the data collected by the spacecraft. To better comprehend changes as the spacecraft moves along, the data are allowed to 'echo' along the spacecraft trail. The length of the vectors represent the relative magnitude of the vector. However, the electron and proton vectors are scaled so equal velocities correspond to vectors of equal magnitude.


  • Magenta represents the direction and magnitude of the magnetic field at the spacecraft position.
  • Yellow represents the direction and magnitude of the bulk motion (total average) velocity of the electrons measured at the spacecraft position.
  • Blue represents the direction and magnitude of the bulk motion (total average) velocity of the protons measured at the spacecraft position.

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

This page was originally published on Thursday, May 12, 2016.
This page was last updated on Sunday, January 5, 2025 at 11:02 PM EST.

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Related papers

Electron-scale measurements of magnetic reconnection in space

Electron-scale measurements of magnetic reconnection in space

Datasets used

  • MMS-FIELDS [MMS: FIELDS]

    ID: 920
    Type: Observed Data Sensor: FIELDS Dates used: 2015-10-16T13:03:34.003(TAI) - 2015-10-16T13:07:43.934(TAI)
    See all pages that use this dataset

  • MMS-FPI [MMS: Fast Plasma Investigation]

    ID: 921
    Type: Event List Sensor: Fast Plasma Investigation Dates used: 2015-10-16T13:03:34.003(TAI) - 2015-10-16T13:07:43.934(TAI)
    See all pages that use this dataset

Note: While we identify the data sets used on this page, we do not store any further details, nor the data sets themselves on our site.