ИСТИНА

One of the main sources for magnetospheric plasmas is solar wind penetration through the magnetopause, whose current sheet separates the cold, dense magnetosheath (MS) plasmas from hot, rarified magnetospheric plasmas. The underlying mechanism responsible for magnetosheath plasma transport across the magnetopause has been well investigated for the near-Earth day-side magnetopause (on contrary to the night side), where it was found that such a transport is controlled by the current sheet thickness, structure and dynamics. Because plasma properties and magnetic field intensity in the magnetosheath significantly change with the radial distance from the Earth, the current sheet characteristics can be different near Earth and at distant night-side magnetopause. Comparative investigations on near-Earth and distant magnetopause, however, require conjugate spacecraft observations. In this study, we use simultaneous observations from four Magnetosheric Multiscale (MMS) and two Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence and Electrodynamics of the Moon's Interaction with the Sun (ARTEMIS) probes to compare the characteristics of magnetic field and plasma populations during magnetopause crossings, which are separated by about 50 RE. It appears that the current sheet configuration is similar at two locations. We also show that the magnetopause current sheet thickness is defined by the local magnetosheath ion gyroradius. The weaker magnetic field on both sides of the current sheet is responsible for the smaller current density at lunar distances. Work of L.A.S and E.V.Y. was supported by Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR) 18-02-00218.