Observations of flux transfer events

Abstract

A decade of research on flux transfer events (FTE's) has supported their interpretation as signatures of reconnection between the solar and terrestrial magnetic fields. We review some of the observational evidence. Another observational signature of reconnection has been studied in the literature : high speed plasma flows satisfying approximately stress balance calculations. We revisit a well-documented crossing of the magnetopause to show how these signatures, which are prima facie so diverse and which have hitherto been studied in isolation, can be understood in terms of unsteady Petschek reconnection occurring at the magnetopause. A review of some works on FTE's using data from the AMPTE spacecraft highlights the advances made possible by that mission.