Comparing the Properties of Magnetic Reconnection in Various Environments

SHINE co-convener: Jack Gosling <Jack.Gosling @ lasp.colorado.edu> GEM co-convener: Michael Hesse <Michael.Hesse @ nasa.gov>

Magnetic reconnection is a ubiquitous plasma transport and energy release process in space plasmas. Magnetic reconnection is understood to be a key ingredient in solar eruptions and other solar processes, has recently been detected in the solar wind, facilitates energy transfer into the magnetosphere, drives magnetospheric circulation, and produces the dynamical evolution associated with magnetospheric substorms. Owing to this breadth of applications, magnetic reconnection is perhaps the most important fundamental process in space plasmas. This session aimed at analyzing observations and models of magnetic reconnection in different heliosphefric environments, with the specific goal to understand commonalities and differences in the way reconnection operates in different space plasmas. The session included a small number of invited presentations and brief (2 viewgraph) presentations from the audience, with an emphasis on discussion, not on AGU-style series of presentations.

The topic and goals for the session were introduced by Michael Hesse.

Invited speakers were Joachim Birn, Terry Forbes, Bob Lin, and Mike Shay.

Contributed talks were given by Jon Eastwood, Jack Gosling (filling in for Benoit Lavraud), Dietmar Krauss-Varban, Yu Lin, and Chris Russell.

My retained impression is that it was a relatively lively session and was moderately successful in focusing attention on comparative aspects of magnetic reconnection in different space environments.