Electron plasma oscillations in the Venus foreshock

Journal Article · Mon Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 1990 · Geophysical Research Letters (American Geophysical Union); (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/GL017i011p01805· OSTI ID:5587788

Crawford, G K; Strangeway, R J; Russell, C T ^[1]

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1. Univ. of California, Los Angeles (USA)

Plasma waves are observed in the solar wind upstream of the Venus bow shock by the Pioneer Venus Orbiter. These wave signatures occur during periods when the interplanetary magnetic field through the spacecraft position intersects the bow shock, thereby placing the spacecraft in the foreshock region. The electron foreshock boundary is clearly evident in the data as a sharp onset in wave activity and a peak in intensity. Wave intensity is seen to drop rapidly with increasing penetration into the foreshock. The peak wave electric field strength at the electron foreshock boundary is found to be similar to terrestrial observations. A normalized wave spectrum was constructed using measurements of the electron plasma frequency and the spectrum was found to be centered about this value. These results, along with polarization studies showing the wave electric field to be field aligned, are consistent with the interpretation of the waves as electron plasma oscillations.

• OSTI ID: 5587788
• Journal Information: Geophysical Research Letters (American Geophysical Union); (United States), Journal Name: Geophysical Research Letters (American Geophysical Union); (United States) Vol. 17:11; ISSN 0094-8276; ISSN GPRLA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640104* -- Astrophysics & Cosmology-- Solar Phenomena
640107 -- Astrophysics & Cosmology-- Planetary Phenomena
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
BOUNDARY LAYERS
DATA
DATA ANALYSIS
ELECTRIC FIELDS
ELECTRON PLASMA WAVES
INFORMATION
INTERACTIONS
INTERPLANETARY MAGNETIC FIELDS
INTERPLANETARY SPACE
LANGMUIR FREQUENCY
LAYERS
MAGNETIC FIELDS
PLANETS
PLASMA WAVES
POLARIZATION
SHOCK WAVES
SOLAR ACTIVITY
SOLAR WIND
SPACE
VENUS PLANET