ESA Science & Technology - Flux tubes evolution after multipoint reconnections

This schematic shows the evolution of flux tubes after multipoint reconnections in a non anti-parallel configuration.

Digits mark the branches of the reconnected tubes and crosses mark the reconnection sites. All quantities are displayed in the boundary normal (L, M, N) frame, with N normal to the magnetopause or MP (pointing towards the magnetosheath), L in the plane containing N and the average magnetospheric field, and M completing the system. The 3D view takes into account the tube deformation due to the magnetic tension and the magnetosheath motion, or Vs (Image 1 of Louarn et al, 2004).