Three‐Dimensional Electron‐Scale Magnetic Reconnection in Earth's Magnetosphere

Abstract

Abstract Two‐dimensional Hall reconnection model can explain the fast release of magnetic energy and most of its predictions have been demonstrated by in situ satellite observations. However, the three‐dimensional effect to reconnection remains poorly known. Recent numerical simulations have shown that three‐dimensional evolution is more complex than two‐dimensional in that reconnection occurs in multiple sites that are not necessarily in the primary neutral current sheet. Here, we present the first observational evidence for localized secondary reconnection at the separatrix surface of a magnetic flux rope (MFR). This secondary reconnection occurs between the axial magnetic field of the MFR, which points out‐of‐plane of the Earth's magnetopause reconnection, and the magnetospheric field. This three‐dimensional electron‐scale reconnection in the exhaust facilitates the cross‐scale energy conversion from the macro‐scale down to electron‐scale.