New discovery on magnetic reconnection to impact future space missions

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This figure shows the trajectory of a Cluster satellite (Rumba) overlaid on a numerical simulation of an electron diffusion region in the magnetosheath. The axes represent the distance from the core of the magnetic reconnection process where the kink ...
This figure shows the trajectory of a Cluster satellite (Rumba) overlaid on a numerical simulation of an electron diffusion region in the magnetosheath. The axes represent the distance from the core of the magnetic reconnection process, where the kink occurs, in between the thin blue jet and the red jet. Credits: University of Delaware (M. Shay)
ESA’s Cluster mission has, for the first time, observed the extent of the region that triggers magnetic reconnection, and it is much larger than previously thought. This gives future space missions a much better chance of studying it.


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