Influence of the Interplanetary Magnetic Field on the Solar Wind Flow about Planetary Obstacles |
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Authors: | Nikolai Erkaev Alexander Mezentsev Helfried Biernat |
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Institution: | (1) Institute of Computational Modelling, Russian Academy of Sciences, 660036 Krasnoyarsk, Russia;(2) Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Schmiedlstrasse 6, A-8042 Graz, Austria |
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Abstract: | The main effects caused by the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) are analyzed in cases of supersonic solar wind flow around
magnetized planets (like Earth) and nonmagnetized (like Venus) planets. The IMF has a relatively weak strength in the solar
wind but it is enhanced considerably in the so-called plasma depletion layer or magnetic barrier in the vicinity of the streamlined
obstacle (magnetopause of a magnetized planet, or ionopause of a nonmagnetized planet). For magnetized planets, the magnetic
barrier is a source of free magnetic energy for magnetic reconnection in cases of large magnetic shear at the magnetopause.
For nonmagnetized planets, mass loading of the ionospheric particles is very important. The new created ions are accelerated
by the electric field related to the IMF, and thus they gain energy from the solar wind plasma. These ions form the boundary
layer within the magnetic barrier. This mass loading process affects considerably the profiles of the magnetic field and plasma
parameters in the flow region. |
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Keywords: | ionopause magnetic barrier magnetopause pick-up processes solar wind flow |
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