Magnetosonic Mach number effect of the position of the bow shock at Mars in comparison to Venus | Zendy

Edberg N. J. T. | Zendy; Lester M. | Zendy; Cowley S. W. H. | Zendy; Brain D. A. | Zendy; Fränz M. | Zendy; Barabash S. | Zendy

AI Assistant Blog Pricing

Home ZAIA Blog

Open Access

Magnetosonic Mach number effect of the position of the bow shock at Mars in comparison to Venus

Author(s) -

Edberg N. J. T.,

Lester M.,

Cowley S. W. H.,

Brain D. A.,

Fränz M.,

Barabash S.

Publication year - 2010

Publication title -

journal of geophysical research: space physics

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67

H-Index - 298

eISSN - 2156-2202

pISSN - 0148-0227

DOI - 10.1029/2009ja014998

Subject(s) - mach number , venus , mars exploration program , martian , physics , solar wind , altitude (triangle) , drag divergence mach number , atmospheric sciences , geophysics , mechanics , drag , astronomy , astrobiology , plasma , geometry , mathematics , aerodynamic drag , quantum mechanics

We study the effect of the magnetosonic Mach number on the position of the bow shock (BS) at Mars. The magnetosonic Mach number is calculated from solar wind data obtained by the ACE satellite upstream of Earth and extrapolated to Mars during two intervals, starting in 2005 and 2007, when Mars and Earth were close to opposition. An increased Mach number is observed to cause the Martian BS to move to lower altitudes and the variation in the terminator altitude is proportional to the Mach number change. When the Mach number is lowered, the BS flares more. We also compare our results to previous studies at Venus. The variation in BS altitude with magnetosonic Mach number is found to be very similar to the variation of the Venusian BS, which has previously been shown to decrease linearly in altitude with increasing Mach number.

The content you want is available to Zendy users.

Already have an account? Click here to sign in.

Having issues? You can contact us here

Accelerating Research