Penetration of magnetosheath plasma into dayside magnetosphere: 2. Magnetic field in plasma filaments

Abstract

In this paper, we examined plasma structures (filaments), observed in the dayside magnetosphere but containing magnetosheath plasma. These filaments show the stable antisunward motion (while the ambient magnetospheric plasma moved in the opposite direction) and the existence of a strip of magnetospheric plasma, separating these filaments from the magnetosheath. These results, however, contradict both theoretical studies and simulations by Schindler (1979), Ma et al. (1991), Dai and Woodward (1994, 1998), and other researchers, who reported that the motion of such filaments through the magnetosphere is possible only when their magnetic field is directed very close to the ambient magnetic field, which is not the situation that is observed. In this study, we show that this seeming contradiction may be related to different events as the theoretical studies and simulations are related to the case when the filament magnetic field is about aligned with filament orientation, whereas the observations show that the magnetic field in these filaments may be rotating. In this case, the rotating magnetic field, changing incessantly its direction, drastically affects the penetration of plasma filaments into the magnetosphere. In this case, the filaments with rotating magnetic field, even if in each moment it is significantly inclined to the ambient magnetic field, may propagate through the magnetosphere, if their average (for the rotation period) magnetic field is aligned with the ambient magnetic field. This shows that neglecting the rotation of magnetic field in these filaments may lead to wrong results.