Transient Foreshock Structures Upstream of Mars: Implications of the Small Martian Bow Shock

Abstract

Abstract The typical subsolar stand‐off distance of Mars' bow shock is of the order of a solar wind ion convective gyroradius, making it highly non‐planar to incident ions. Using spacecraft observations and a test particle model, we illustrate the impact of the bow shock curvature on transient structures which form near the upstream edge of moving foreshocks caused by slow rotations in the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). The structures exhibit noticeable decrease in the solar wind plasma density and the IMF strength within their core, are accompanied by a compressional shock layer, and are consistent with foreshock bubbles (FBs). Ion populations responsible for these structures include backstreaming ions that only appear within the moving foreshock and reflected ions with hybrid trajectories that straddle between the quasi‐perpendicular and quasi‐parallel bow shocks during slow IMF rotations. Both ion populations accumulate near the upstream edge of the moving foreshock which facilitates FB formation.

Keywords

• shocks
• solar wind
• space plasmas
• Mars