A first cartoon from a textbook, rather than a research paper. This one (pointed out by Jiong Qiu, who does not seem to have her own cartoon creation in the Archive yet) has something unique in the genre, even if it's the same old CSHKP stuff. The various colors show mixing as the different domains of the plasma are redefined by the process. This is a major feature that is different for the 3D process, not found in 2D. Although astrophysicists tend to equate "reconnection" with "energy release", in fact this mixing is also an important issue and one that's observable in the in-situ domain of the Van Allen Belts; note that the production of energy, while observable, is much harder to characterize as a rule.
p.s. this is also the sixth consecutive Archive increment that's in color. We are still waiting for the first stereo pair and for the first animation...
7 April 2008