Preliminary
observations of slow shocks in the magnetotail
J.
P. Eastwood (NASA GSFC), D. G. Sibeck (NASA GSFC), J. A. Slavin (NASA
GSFC), M. L. Goldstein (NASA GSFC), W. Keith (NASA GSFC), M. Hesse
(NASA GSFC), E. A. Lucek (Imperial College London, UK), A. Balogh
(Imperial College London, UK), I. Dandouras (CESR CNRS/UPS Toulouse,
France)
Slow shocks are a key component in theories of reconnection. We show an
example of a slow shock in the Cluster dataset, observed in the
magnetotail in the vicinity of the tail current sheet, on August 27
(day 239) 2001 at 1:28UT. Multi-spacecraft analysis is applied to the
observations, leading to a better estimate of the shock normal
orientation; normal inflow and outflow speeds are calculated. The
structure of the shock transition itself is probed using the high time
resolution magnetic field and electron data. We have completed a
preliminary survey for the existence of slow shocks in the 2001 and
2002 tail seasons; 40+ candidate events have been identified in 2001
alone.