scholarly journals Cluster observations of structures at quasi-parallel bow shocks

2004 ◽  
Vol 22 (7) ◽  
pp. 2309-2313 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. A. Lucek ◽  
T. S. Horbury ◽  
A. Balogh ◽  
I. Dandouras ◽  
H. Rème

Abstract. Collisionless quasi-parallel shocks are thought to be composed of a patchwork of short, large-amplitude magnetic structures (SLAMS) which act to thermalise the plasma, giving rise to a spatially extended and time varying shock transition. With the launch of Cluster, new observations of the three-dimensional shape and size of shock structures are available. In this paper we present SLAMS observations made when the Cluster tetrahedron scale size was ~100km. The SLAMS magnetic field enhancement is typically well correlated between spacecraft on this scale, although small differences are observed. The statistical characteristics of these differences contain information on the typical gradients of magnetic field changes within the SLAM structure which, in the case studied here, occur on scales of 100-150km, comparable with the upstream ion inertial length.

2002 ◽  
Vol 20 (11) ◽  
pp. 1699-1710 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. A. Lucek ◽  
T. S. Horbury ◽  
M. W. Dunlop ◽  
P. J. Cargill ◽  
S. J. Schwartz ◽  
...  

Abstract. We present four-point Cluster magnetic field data from a quasi-parallel shock crossing which allows us to probe the three-dimensional structure of this type of shock for the first time. We find that steepened ULF waves typically have a scale larger than the spacecraft separation ( ~ 400–1000 km), while SLAMS-like magnetic field enhancements have different signatures in | B | at the four spacecraft, suggesting that they have a smaller scale size. In the latter case, however, the angular variations of B are similar, consistent with the space-craft making different trajectories through the same structure. The field enhancements have different orientations relative to a model bow shock normal, which might arise from different degrees of deceleration and deflection of the surrounding solar wind plasma. The observed rotation of the magnetic field rising from a direction approximately parallel to the model bow shock normal to a direction more perpendicular to the model normal across the field enhancement is consistent with previously published results. Successive magnetic field enhancements or ULF waves, and the leading and trailing edges of the same structure, are found to have different orientations.Key words. Interplanetary physics (planetary bow shocks)


2021 ◽  
Vol 104 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luke R. St. Marie ◽  
Chieh-I Liu ◽  
I-Fan Hu ◽  
Heather M. Hill ◽  
Dipanjan Saha ◽  
...  

2008 ◽  
Vol 403 (5-9) ◽  
pp. 1268-1269 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.N. Sluchanko ◽  
V.V. Glushkov ◽  
S.V. Demishev ◽  
O.D. Chistyakov ◽  
N.E. Sluchanko

2010 ◽  
Vol 118 (5) ◽  
pp. 931-932 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.V. Bogach ◽  
V.V. Glushkov ◽  
S.V. Demishev ◽  
N.E. Sluchanko ◽  
N.Yu. Shitsevalova ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 921 (2) ◽  
pp. 139
Author(s):  
Yun Li ◽  
Haoyu Lu ◽  
Jinbin Cao ◽  
Shibang Li ◽  
Christian Mazelle ◽  
...  

Abstract Without the intrinsic magnetic field, the solar wind interaction with Mars can be significantly different from the interaction with Earth and other magnetized planets. In this paper, we investigate how a global configuration of the magnetic structures, consisting of the bow shock, the induced magnetosphere, and the magnetotail, is modulated by the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) orientation. A 3D multispecies numerical model is established to simulate the interaction of solar wind with Mars under different IMF directions. The results show that the shock size including the subsolar distance and the terminator radius increases with Parker spiral angle, as is the same case with the magnetotail radius. The location and shape of the polarity reversal layer and inverse polarity reversal layer in the induced magnetotail are displaced to the y < 0 sector for a nonzero flow-aligned IMF component, consistent with previous analytical solutions and observations. The responses of the Martian global magnetic configuration to the different IMF directions suggest that the external magnetic field plays an important role in the solar wind interaction with unmagnetized planets.


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