Magnetic Reconnection in the Near‐Earth Magnetotail

Magnetic reconnection is the key process that produces the dynamics of the Earth's magnetosphere, by efficiently converting the magnetic field energy into plasma kinetic energy and thermal energy. The understanding of magnetic reconnection is being revolutionized with in situ spacecraft observations and large-scale computer simulations with particle code. Magnetic reconnection occurs in the microscale region, but has large-scale consequences. The physical processes in magnetic reconnection should be explored on various scales. This chapter summarizes a macroscopic picture of magnetic reconnection and examines the structure of magnetic reconnection on the kinetic level from an observational point of view.