Thin current sheets in the deep geomagnetic tail

The ISEE‐3 magnetic field and plasma electron data from Jan ‐ March 1983 have been searched to study thin current sheets in the deep tail region. 33 events were selected where the spacecraft crossed through the current sheet from lobe to lobe within 15 minutes. The average thickness of the observed current sheets was 2.45R_{E}, and in 24 cases the current sheet was thinner than 3.0R_{E}; 6 very thin current sheets (thickness λ < 0.5R_{E}) were found. The electron data show that the very thin current sheets are associated with considerable temperature anisotropy. On average, the electron gradient current was ∼ 17% of the total current, whereas the current arising from the electron temperature anisotropy varied between 8 – 45% of the total current determined from the lobe field magnitude

GUMICS-4 analysis of interplanetary coronal mass ejection impact on Earth during low and typical Mach number solar winds

We study the response of the Earth's magnetosphere to fluctuating solar wind conditions during interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) using the Grand Unified Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Coupling Simulation (GUMICS-4). The two ICME events occurred on 15-16 July 2012 and 29-30 April 2014. During the strong 2012 event, the solar wind upstream values reached up to 35 particles cm(-3), speeds of up to 694 km s(-1), and an interplanetary magnetic field of up to 22 nT, giving a Mach number of 2.3. The 2014 event was a moderate one, with the corresponding upstream values of 30 particles cm(-3), 320 km s(-1) and 10 nT, indicating a Mach number of 5.8. We examine how the Earth's space environment dynamics evolves during both ICME events from both global and local perspectives, using well-established empirical models and in situ measurements as references. We show that on the large scale, and during moderate driving, the GUMICS-4 results are in good agreement with the reference values. However, the local values, especially during high driving, show more variation: such extreme conditions do not reproduce local measurements made deep inside the magnetosphere. The same appeared to be true when the event was run with another global simulation. The cross-polar cap potential (CPCP) saturation is shown to depend on the Alfven-Mach number of the upstream solar wind. However, care must be taken in interpreting these results, as the CPCP is also sensitive to the simulation resolution

Structural Characteristics and Stellar Composition of Low Surface Brightness Disk Galaxies

We present UBVI surface photometry of a sample of low surface brightness (LSB) disk galaxies. LSB disk galaxies are fairly well described as exponential disks with no preferred value for either scale length, central surface brightness, or rotational velocity. Indeed, the distribution of scale lengths is indistinguishable from that of high surface brightness spirals, indicating that dynamically similar galaxies (e.g., those with comparable Rv^2) exist over a large range in surface density. These LSB galaxies are strikingly blue. The complete lack of correlation between central surface brightness and color rules out any fading scenario. Similarly, the oxygen abundances inferred from HII region spectra are uncorrelated with color so the low metallicities are not the primary cause of the blue colors. While these are difficult to interpret in the absence of significant star formation, the most plausible scenario is a stellar population with a young mean age stemming from late formation and subsequent slow evolution. These properties suggest that LSB disks formed from low initial overdensities with correspondingly late collapse times.Comment: Astronomical Journal, in press 45 pages uuencoded postscript (368K) including 9 multipart figures also available by anonymous ftp @ ftp.ast.cam.ac.uk /pub/ssm/phot.uu CAP-30-210442962983742937