Particle Beams in the Vicinity of Magnetic Separatrix According to Near-Lunar ARTEMIS Observations

We study characteristics of ion and electron beams observed during 101 crossings of the near-separatrix region by Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence and Electrodynamics of the Moon's Interaction with the Sun (ARTEMIS) spacecraft in the magnetotail. We found that accelerated ion beams are observed under any level of geomagnetic activity. A duration of earthward moving ion beams is statistically longer (<= 10 min) than a duration of tailward ion beams (<= 4 min), which can be due to the transient character of ion acceleration in the vicinity of the near-Earth neutral line (NENL). Energetic characteristics of earthward and tailward ion beams are similar indicating similar acceleration conditions at ion kinetic scales at both sides of an X line independently of its location. Conversely, electron velocity distributions observed near magnetic separatrix earthward of the distant neutral line (DNL) differ from those observed tailward of the NENL. Earthward of the DNL a scattered and thermalized electron population without energetic field-aligned beams is observed near the separatrix. On the contrary, tailward of the NENL field-aligned electron beams accelerated to a few kiloelectron volts are detected. These observations show that near DNL the electron scattering and thermalization dominate over the direct acceleration, whereas stronger electric fields in the NENL produce substantial population of field-aligned kiloelectron volt electrons.