Substorm activity in Venus's magnetotail

The magnetotail of the induced magnetosphere of Venus is investigated through the magnetic field and plasma data of Venus Express. A comparison is made between two neutral sheet crossings. One crossing shows the magnetic field is rather quiet and the plasma instrument indicates a change from energetic (few 100 eV) to low energy (few 10 eV) ions. The other crossing shows more dynamics in the magnetic field, including signatures that are interpreted as characteristic of a reconnection site, and the plasma instrument indicates ions that are energized to 1500 to 2000 eV, in the same magnetospheric region where in the first crossing only low energy ions showed up.