Observations of electron energization in moderate guide field magnetic reconnection using MMS data

Magnetic reconnection has been observed by spacecraft under differing conditions, including varying guide field strengths and asymmetric upstream conditions. While spacecraft observations of the ion and electron diffusion regions and the J.E energization of the particles have been used to identify magnetic reconnection, the details of how the electron velocity distribution responds to the reconnection electric field, resulting in either electron heating or acceleration, remain poorly understood. Here we observe the response of the electrons as a function of velocity space to the parallel electric field in moderate guide field reconnection, resulting in electron energization. Applying the novel field-particle correlation technique to MMS measurements of the electric field and the electron velocity distribution in the Earth's magnetosheath, we obtain the velocity-space signature of the electron energization. We explore the variation of the velocity-space signature of electron energization as the spacecraft traverses the exhaust region, illuminating the electron response to the parallel electric field in different regions of the reconnection geometry.