Solar and interplanetary control of the location of the Venus bow shock

Journal Article · Wed Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1988 · Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/JA093iA06p05461· OSTI ID:5257231

Russell, C T; Chou, E; Luhmann, J G ^[1]; Gazis, P ^[2]; Brace, L H; Hoegy, W R ^[3]

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1. Univ. of California, Los Angeles (USA)
2. NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA (USA)
3. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD (USA)

The Venus box shock location has been measured at nearly 2,000 shock crossings, and its dependence on solar EUV, solar wind conditions, and the interplanetary magnetic field determined. The shock position at the terminator varies from about 2.14 Venus radii at solar minimum to 2.40 Venus radii at solar maximum.The location of the shock varies little with solar wind dynamic pressure but strongly with solar wind Mach number. The shock is farthest from Venus on the side of the planet in which newly created ions gyrate away from the ionosphere. When the interplanetary magnetic field is perpendicular to the flow, the cross section of the shock is quite elliptical. This effect appears to be due to the anisotropic propagation of the fast magnetosonic wave. When the interplanetary magnetic field is aligned with the flow, the box shock cross section is circular and only weakly sensitive to changing EUV flux.

• OSTI ID: 5257231
• Journal Information: Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States), Journal Name: Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States) Vol. 93:A6; ISSN 0148-0227; ISSN JGREA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640107* -- Astrophysics & Cosmology-- Planetary Phenomena
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
COORDINATES
HYDROMAGNETIC WAVES
INTERACTIONS
INTERPLANETARY MAGNETIC FIELDS
MACH NUMBER
MAGNETIC FIELDS
MAGNETOACOUSTIC WAVES
PLANETARY IONOSPHERES
PLANETS
RADIATIONS
SHOCK WAVES
SOLAR ACTIVITY
SOLAR RADIATION
SOLAR WIND
STELLAR RADIATION
VARIATIONS
VELOCITY
VENUS PLANET
WAVE PROPAGATION