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Title: Structure
of the magnetic pileup boundary at Mars and Venus
Author(s): Bertucci
C, Mazelle C, Acuna MH, Russell CT, Slavin JA
Source: JOURNAL
OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SPACE PHYSICS 110 (A1): Art. No. A01209 JAN 15
2005
Document Type: Article
Language: English
Abstract: [1]
The magnetic pileup boundary (MPB) is a sharp, thin, and well-defined
plasma boundary located between the bow shock and the inner ionospheric
boundary at comets, Mars, and Venus. This boundary separates the
magnetosheath, a region of low magnetic fields with a conspicuous wave
activity, from the magnetic pileup region dominated by strong, highly
organized magnetic fields as a result of the pileup and draping of the
interplanetary magnetic field. In the present paper we study the
magnetic structure of the magnetic pileup boundary at Mars and Venus by
means of the technique of minimum variance of the magnetic field. For
each one of the crossings analyzed, we obtain a very well defined
minimum variance vector. At Mars the direction of this vector agrees
with the normal to the MPB fit obtained from Mars Global Surveyor
crossings. The results confirm that the MPB is a well-defined plasma
boundary. According to empirical criteria based on minimum variance
analysis results, the Martian and Venusian MPB crossings would resemble
an MHD tangential discontinuity rather than a rotational discontinuity.
However, spacecraft observations suggest that the nature of the MPB
could be far more complex. We compare our results with similar studies
at the MPB of comets and the magnetic tail boundary of Titan, and we
discuss the nature of the boundary from a general perspective.
KeyWords Plus: SOLAR-WIND
INTERACTION; FIELD DRAPING ENHANCEMENT; GLOBAL SURVEYOR; PLASMA
ENVIRONMENT; UP BOUNDARY; MAGNETOSPHERE; MAGNETOPAUSE; MAGNETOTAIL;
PHOBOS-2; MISSION
Addresses: Bertucci
C (reprint author), Univ London Imperial Coll Sci Technol & Med,
Blackett Lab, Prince Consort Rd, London, SW7 2BZ England
Univ London Imperial Coll Sci Technol & Med, Blackett Lab, London,
SW7 2BZ England
NASA, Goddard Space Flight Ctr, Greenbelt, MD 20771 USA
UPS, CNRS, Ctr Etud Spatiale Rayonnements, Toulouse, F-31028 France
Univ Calif Los Angeles, Inst Geophys & Planetary Phys, Los Angeles,
CA 90095 USA
Publisher: AMER
GEOPHYSICAL UNION, 2000 FLORIDA AVE NW, WASHINGTON, DC 20009 USA
Subject Category: ASTRONOMY
& ASTROPHYSICS
IDS Number: 890YV
ISSN: 0148-0227