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The influence of IMF clock angle on the cross section of the tail bow shock
Author(s) -
Wang M.,
Lu J. Y.,
Kabin K.,
Yuan H. Z.,
Ma X.,
Liu Z.Q.,
Yang Y. F.,
Zhao J. S.,
Li G.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: space physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-9402
pISSN - 2169-9380
DOI - 10.1002/2016ja022830
Subject(s) - bow shock (aerodynamics) , shock (circulatory) , solar wind , interplanetary magnetic field , physics , magnetosphere , geophysics , section (typography) , bow wave , eccentricity (behavior) , perpendicular , cross section (physics) , interplanetary spaceflight , magnetic field , shock wave , geodesy , geology , mechanics , geometry , astronomy , medicine , quantum mechanics , advertising , business , law , political science , mathematics
We study effects of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) orientation on the terrestrial tail bow shock location and shape by using global MHD magnetosphere model and empirical bow shock models. It is shown that the tail bow shock cross section is well approximated by an ellipse with the direction of the major axis roughly perpendicular to the IMF clock angle direction. With the increasing IMF clock angle, the eccentricity of the bow shock cross section increases for northward IMF but decreases for southward IMF.