Mariner 10 magnetic field observations of the Venus wake
Abstract
Magnetic field measurements made over a 21-hour interval during the Mariner 10 encounter with Venus were used to study the down-stream region of the solar wind-Venus interaction over a distance of approximately 100 Rv. For most of the day before closest approach the spacecraft was located in a sheath-like region which was apparently bounded by planetary bow shock on the outer side and either a planetary wake boundary or transient boundary-like feature on the inner side. The spacecraft made multiple encounters with the wake-like boundary during the 21-hour interval with an increasing frequency as it approached the planet. Each pass into the wake boundary from the sheath region was consistently characterized by a slight decrease in magnetic field magnitude, a marked increase in the frequency and amplitude of field fluctuations, and a systematic clockwise rotation of the field direction when viewed from above the plane of the planet orbit.
- Publication:
-
NASA STI/Recon Technical Report N
- Pub Date:
- August 1977
- Bibcode:
- 1977STIN...7811963L
- Keywords:
-
- Magnetic Fields;
- Mariner 10 Space Probe;
- Venus (Planet);
- Bow Waves;
- Sheaths;
- Solar Wind;
- Wakes;
- Lunar and Planetary Exploration