Observation of O+ Characteristics During the Terrestrial Alfvén Wing State Induced by the April 2023 Coronal Mass Ejection

Abstract We report Magnetospheric Multiscale observations of oxygen ions (O+) during a coronal mass ejection (CME) in April 2023 when the solar wind was sub‐Alfvénic and Alfvén wings formed. For the first time, O+ characteristics are studied at the contact region between the unshocked solar wind and the magnetosphere. The O+ ions show energies between 100s eV and ∼30 keV. The possible sources are the ring current, the warm plasma cloak, and the ionosphere. The O+ ions exhibit bi‐directional streaming along newly‐formed closed field lines (CFLs), and dominantly anti‐parallel on earlier‐formed CFLs. Escaping O+ ions in the unshocked solar wind are observed. During the recovery phase, the O+ pitch‐angle distribution associated with flux tubes shows dispersion, indicating potential loss to the solar wind. Our results show escaping as well as trapped O+ ions in the region where a magnetic cloud, an Alfvén wing, and magnetospheric field lines are mixed.

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Publication Details

Journal
Journal of Geophysical Research Space Physics
Published
2025-04-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1029/2025ja033915
Primary Topic
Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Observation of O+ Characteristics During the Terrestrial Alfvén Wing State Induced by the April 2023 Coronal Mass Ejection

Brandon Lee Burkholder, Rachel C. Rice, Naoki Bessho, J. R. Shuster et al.
Journal of Geophysical Research Space Physics
Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics
article

Observation of O+ Characteristics During the Terrestrial Alfvén Wing State Induced by the April 2023 Coronal Mass Ejection

Brandon Lee Burkholder, Rachel C. Rice, Naoki Bessho, J. R. Shuster, R. G. Gomez, Harsha Gurram, Haoming Liang, Li‐Jen Chen, S. A. Fuselier, Akhtar Ardakani
article en

Abstract

Abstract We report Magnetospheric Multiscale observations of oxygen ions (O+) during a coronal mass ejection (CME) in April 2023 when the solar wind was sub‐Alfvénic and Alfvén wings formed. For the first time, O+ characteristics are studied at the contact region between the unshocked solar wind and the magnetosphere. The O+ ions show energies between 100s eV and ∼30 keV. The possible sources are the ring current, the warm plasma cloak, and the ionosphere. The O+ ions exhibit bi‐directional streaming along newly‐formed closed field lines (CFLs), and dominantly anti‐parallel on earlier‐formed CFLs. Escaping O+ ions in the unshocked solar wind are observed. During the recovery phase, the O+ pitch‐angle distribution associated with flux tubes shows dispersion, indicating potential loss to the solar wind. Our results show escaping as well as trapped O+ ions in the region where a magnetic cloud, an Alfvén wing, and magnetospheric field lines are mixed.

Journal of Geophysical Research Space PhysicsVol. 130(4)
Southwest Research Institute (US), Goddard Space Flight Center (US), University of New Hampshire (US), Heliophysics (US), The University of Texas at San Antonio (US), University of Maryland, College Park (US), University of Maryland, Baltimore County (US)
National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Nuclear Safety and Security Commission
Openalex Percentile: Top 94%
Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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