Switch‐off slow shock/rotational discontinuity structures in collisionless magnetic reconnection: What to look for in satellite observations

In Innocenti et al. (2015) we have observed and characterized for the first time Petschek‐like switch‐off slow shock/rotational discontinuity (SO‐SS/RD) compound structures in a 2‐D fully kinetic simulation of collisionless magnetic reconnection. Observing these structures in the solar wind or in the magnetotail would corroborate the possibility that Petschek exhausts develop in collisionless media as a result of single X point collisionless reconnection. Here we highlight their signatures in simulations with the aim of easing their identification in observations. The most notable signatures include a four‐peaked ion current profile in the out‐of‐plane direction, associated ion distribution functions, increased electron and ion anisotropy downstream the SS, and increased electron agyrotropy downstream the RDs.