Evidence for slow‐mode shocks in the deep geomagnetic tail

Abstract

Plasma and field data from the ISEE‐3 space probe provide evidence that the lobe‐plasma sheet boundary in the central part of the distant geomagnetic tail is often a slow‐mode shock. Such shocks are predicted by Petchek's model of reconnection. If this model applies, then the ISEE‐3 observations place the general location of the reconnection diffusion region closer to the earth than x ≈ −100 R E .