Plasma velocity in interplanetary planar magnetic structures Original Research Article

Non-Parker type interplanetary objects, planar magnetic structures, have been examined by using magnetic field and low-energy particle data obtained by GEOTAIL. Bi-directional electrons characteristic of closed field lines were not found in planar magnetic structures. Jumps in magnetic field in planar magnetic structures were tangential discontinuities across which there was no mass flux, with a few exception. It suggests that a planar magnetic structure is made of layers of plasmas bounded by several tangential discontinuities, and in a few cases, there is an interaction between the layers.