Abstract
The earth's magnetosphere is open but only partially open. Its cusped front part is filled by closed field lines with intense magnetopause current in deflecting the incident solar wind and its lobed rear part is filled by open field lines with quasi-steady reconnection between interplanetary and terrestrial field lines. The magnetopause is covered by solar wind streamlines that are closest to the earth. The front part of the magnetopause is covered by streamlines that proceed around a magnetic neutral point, carrying incident interplanetary field lines that are tangential to the magnetopause. The rear part of the magnetopause is covered by streamlines that proceed around an electric neutral point, carrying open field lines that pass through the magnetopause. The former closedness part of the magnetopause that separates oppositely-directed tangential field lines of interplanetary and terrestrial magnetic fields may be regarded as an electric equipotential surface of tangential discontinuity. The latter openness part that has open field lines passing through may be regarded as a magnetic equipotential surface of rotational dsicontinuity. The magnetopause current is intense on the closedness magnetopause and insignificant on the openness magnetopause. The closedness magnetopause has a pair of T-type magnetic neutral points on the exterior and interior faces of the current sheet. The openness magnetopause has a pair of electric neutral points on an X-type magnetic separator line where field-line reconnection takes place.
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