HR: 0800h
AN: SM11A-0307    [Abstracts]
TI: Cluster Observations of Scales in the Quasi-perpendicular Collisionless Shocks
AU: Alleyne, H
EM: H.Alleyne@sheffield.ac.uk
AF: ACSE, University of Sheffield, Mappin Street, Sheffield, S1 3JD, United Kingdom
AU: * Hobara, Y
EM: y.hobara@sheffield.ac.uk
AF: ACSE, University of Sheffield, Mappin Street, Sheffield, S1 3JD, United Kingdom
AU: Balikhin, M
EM: m.balikhin@sheffield.ac.uk
AF: ACSE, University of Sheffield, Mappin Street, Sheffield, S1 3JD, United Kingdom
AU: Walker, S
EM: simon.walker@sheffield.ac.uk
AF: ACSE, University of Sheffield, Mappin Street, Sheffield, S1 3JD, United Kingdom
AU: Pokhotelo, O A
EM: o.a.pokhotelov@sheffield.ac.uk
AF: ACSE, University of Sheffield, Mappin Street, Sheffield, S1 3JD, United Kingdom
AU: Dunlop, M
EM: m.w.dunlop@rl.ac.uk
AF: Space Science Division, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, Didcot, OX11 0QX, United Kingdom
AU: Reme, H
EM: henri.reme@cesr.cnes.fr
AF: CESR/CNRS, 9, avenue du Colonel Roche, Toulouse, 31028, France
AB: The scale of the collisionless shock is important to study the shocks because it is directly connected with the nature of the shock and with its formation due to the balance between the steepening of a nonlinear waves in the plasma and some counteracting process. The shock scale is also one of the key parameters to determine the acceleration of the particles in astrophysical shocks. In this paper, we analyze a number of bow shocks observed by magnetic field measurement by Cluster satellites. Several different methods are used to determine accurately the shock normal directions such as based on co-planarity theorem, minimum variance analysis, modelled normal, and timing difference between the satellites. Experimentally derived shock scales based on the accurately estimated shock normal directions and velocity are compared with the electron and ion scales such as inertial length and convected gyro-radius for different plasma conditions (e.g. Mach number) to determine predominant formation process of the shock.
DE: 2154 Planetary bow shocks
DE: 4455 Nonlinear waves, shock waves, solitons (0689, 2487, 3280, 3285, 4275, 6934, 7851, 7852)
DE: 7851 Shock waves (4455)
SC: SPA-Magnetospheric Physics [SM]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting