Dynamics of the Jovian magnetosphere for northward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), Geophys

[1] A massive rotating equatorial plasma sheet dominates Jupiter’s magnetosphere and the solar wind and the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) are not thought to be as important as at Earth. We simulated the Jovian magnetosphere for northward IMF starting from a steady state for southward IMF. About 46 hours after the northward IMF reached the dayside magnetopause reconnection started in the Jovian magnetotail and a plasmoid was launched tailward. This was followed by the formation and ejection of three more plasmoids. In each case the reconnection line (X-line) moved tailward with the plasmoid. Magnetic flux tubes from the X-line moved toward and around Jupiter ending up back in the plasma sheet where they were available for additional reconnection. A new reconnection line then formed, a plasmoid was ejected and the process repeated. These phenomena occurred with an average period of 34.3 hours