The Earth's Bow Shock: The Outermost Terrestrial Boundary

Physics

Scientific paper

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2109 Discontinuities, 2134 Interplanetary Magnetic Fields, 2154 Planetary Bow Shocks, 2164 Solar Wind Plasma

Scientific paper

The solar wind is a continuous stream of charged particles originating from the Sun, and approaches the Earth with a speed of 300 - 800 km/s. This stream also carries the magnetic field of solar origin known as the interplanetary magnetic field. The first sign of an interaction of the solar wind with the Earth's magnetic field is a standing shock wave in space on the Sun-facing side. This shock wave is like the sonic shock wave caused by an aircraft flying with supersonic speed. This bow shock slows down the solar wind, deflects particles around the Earth's magnetosphere, which acts as a gigantic shield against cosmic particles. In this project we have analyze data from the CLUSTER spacecraft crossing the Earth's bow shock on their orbit around the Earth. Investigating numerous bow shock crossings we have surveyed of plasma properties upstream and downstream and related these parameters to conservation laws. The survey also covers the distinct regions: the perpendicular and the parallel site of the Earth's bow shock where we investigated the differences in topology and the reflection properties of this collisionless shock. This work represents the efforts of two high school students who participated in the UNH program Project SMART during the summer of 2004.

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