Mirror Bubbles in the Nightside Inner Magnetosphere: Particle Trapping, and ULF wake formation

Measurements taken from the recently decommissioned Van Allen Probes show evidence for mirror bubble formation in the dusk-to-midnight sector of the inner magnetosphere. The existence of such modes would provide new mechanisms for particle acceleration via resonant interaction as the particles move further into the inner magnetosphere. It also provides novel formation mechanisms for ULF waves, since the mirror bubble forms a magnetic island in the MHD plasma and create wakes as they propagate. They may also couple to the inner magnetospheric field to form drift-mirror modes.