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Downstream structures of interplanetary fast shocks associated with coronal mass ejections
Author(s) -
Kataoka R.,
Watari S.,
Shimada N.,
Shimazu H.,
Marubashi K.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2005gl022777
Subject(s) - coronal mass ejection , physics , magnetic cloud , mach number , shock (circulatory) , solar wind , turbulence , heliosphere , magnetic field , plane (geometry) , astrophysics , mechanics , geometry , quantum mechanics , medicine , mathematics
We investigate 17 coronal mass ejection (CME) events identified by the ACE spacecraft during solar cycle 23, focusing upon the fine structures of the sheath region between the CME and its associated shock to find their dependence on the shock parameters. We observe the planar magnetic structure (PMS) downstream of a quasi‐perpendicular shock when the Alfvén Mach number >2.0. Here, the PMS is characterized by the magnetic fields changing directions abruptly and intermittently within a plane parallel to the shock plane. The downstream PMS does not form when a magnetic cloud with β value <0.05 exists just upstream of a shock with Alfvén Mach number <2.0. The sheath magnetic fields become highly turbulent when the shock angle is <60 and/or the upstream β value is >0.5 and the upstream is dominated by Alfvenic fluctuations.