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Many massive stars travel through the interstellar medium at supersonicspeeds. As a result they form bow shocks at the interface between the stellarwind. We use numerical hydrodynamics to reproduce such bow shocks numerically,creating models that can be compared to observations. In this paper we discussthe influence of two physical phenomena, interstellar magnetic fields and thepresence of interstellar dust grains on the observable shape of the bow shocksof massive stars.  We find that the interstellar magnetic field, though too weak to restrict thegeneral shape of the bow shock, reduces the size of the instabilities thatwould otherwise be observed in the bow shock of a red supergiant. Theinterstellar dust grains, due to their inertia can penetrate deep into the bowshock structure of a main sequence O-supergiant, crossing over from the ISMinto the stellar wind. Therefore, the dust distribution may not always reflectthe morphology of the gas. This is an important consideration for infraredobservations, which are dominated by dust emission.  Our models clearly show, that the bow shocks of massive stars are usefuldiagnostic tools that can used to investigate the properties of both thestellar wind as well as the interstellar medium.

Using numerical models of bow shocks to investigate the circumstellar medium of massive stars