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Reconstructing the Geometry of a Hot Flow Anomaly With Bounding Jets in Magnetosheath

  • Yufei Zhou
  • , Boyi Wang
  • , Savvas Raptis
  • , Shan Wang
  • , Jin Guo
  • , Jih Hong Shue
  • , David Sibeck
  • , Quanming Lu
  • , Jiamei Zhang
  • , Chao Shen*
  • , Rungployphan Kieokaew
  • , C. Philippe Escoubet
  • , Peng Shao
  • , James Burch
  • *Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalLetterpeer-review

Abstract

When interplanetary magnetic field discontinuities interact with planetary bow shocks, hot flow anomalies (HFAs) form in the solar wind and can extend into the magnetosheath. Here we reconstruct the three-dimensional geometry of an HFA bounded by two jet regions in the terrestrial magnetosheath. Using a previously established conceptual model of HFA evolution together with in situ measurements in the magnetosheath and pristine solar wind, we derive the structure's geometrical characteristics and show that its normal aligns with the discontinuity normal. It spans most of the dayside magnetosheath. Ground magnetometer data corroborate the reconstruction, revealing both the scale of the disturbance and its dusk-to-dawn propagation. Notably, one bounding jet reaches 11 (Formula presented.) in width, significantly larger than the sizes of typical magnetosheath jets reported in the literature.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere2025GL119404
JournalGeophysical Research Letters
Volume53
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 16 Feb 2026
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • bow shock
  • ground-based magnetometer
  • hot flow anomaly
  • magnetopause
  • magnetosheath jet
  • reconstruction

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