Articles | Volume 40, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-40-217-2022
https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-40-217-2022
Regular paper
 | 
22 Apr 2022
Regular paper |  | 22 Apr 2022

Dayside magnetopause reconnection and flux transfer events under radial interplanetary magnetic field (IMF): BepiColombo Earth-flyby observations

Weijie Sun, James A. Slavin, Rumi Nakamura, Daniel Heyner, Karlheinz J. Trattner, Johannes Z. D. Mieth, Jiutong Zhao, Qiu-Gang Zong, Sae Aizawa, Nicolas Andre, and Yoshifumi Saito

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Cited articles

Akhavan-Tafti, M., Slavin, J. A., Le, G., Eastwood, J. P., Strangeway, R. J., Russell, C. T., Nakamura, R., Baumjohann, W., Torbert, R. B., Giles, B. L., Gershman, D. J., and Burch, J. L.: MMS Examination of FTEs at the Earth's Subsolar Magnetopause, J. Geophys. Res.-Space, 123, 1224–1241, https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JA024681, 2018. 
Belenkaya, E. S.: Reconnection modes for near-radial interplanetary magnetic field, J. Geophys. Res.-Space, 103, 26487–26494, https://doi.org/10.1029/98JA02270, 1998. 
Benkhoff, J., van Casteren, J., Hayakawa, H., Fujimoto, M., Laakso, H., Novara, M., Ferri, P., Middleton, H. R., and Ziethe, R.: BepiColombo—Comprehensive exploration of Mercury: Mission overview and science goals, Planet. Space Sci., 58, 2–20, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pss.2009.09.020, 2010. 
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Burch, J. L., Moore, T. E., Torbert, R. B., and Giles, B. L.: Magnetospheric Multiscale Overview and Science Objectives, Space Sci. Rev., 199, 5–21, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-015-0164-9, 2016. 
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This paper presents observations of FTE-type flux ropes on the dayside during BepiColombo's Earth flyby. FTE-type flux ropes are a well-known feature of magnetic reconnection on the magnetopause, and they can be used to constrain the location of reconnection X-lines. Our study suggests that the magnetopause X-line passed BepiColombo from the north as it traversed the magnetopause. Moreover, our results also strongly support coalescence creating larger flux ropes by combining smaller ones.