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This allowed Rosetta to observe the bow shock as it formed when the outgassing increased during the comet's journey toward the Sun. In this early state of development the shock was called the "infant bow shock". [11] The infant bow shock is asymmetric and, relative to the distance to the nucleus, wider than fully developed bow shocks.
A bow shock, also called a detached shock or bowed normal shock, is a curved propagating disturbance wave characterized by an abrupt, nearly discontinuous, change in pressure, temperature, and density. It occurs when a supersonic flow encounters a body, around which the necessary deviation angle of the flow is higher than the maximum achievable ...
In this case the gas ahead of the shock is supersonic (in the laboratory frame), and the gas behind the shock system is either supersonic (oblique shocks) or subsonic (a normal shock) (Although for some oblique shocks very close to the deflection angle limit, the downstream Mach number is subsonic.) The shock is the result of the deceleration ...
The bow shock forms the outermost layer of the magnetosphere; the boundary between the magnetosphere and the surrounding medium. For stars, this is usually the boundary between the stellar wind and interstellar medium; for planets, the speed of the solar wind there decreases as it approaches the magnetopause. [6]
A "termination shock" analogy of water in a sink basin. The termination shock is the point in the heliosphere where the solar wind slows down to subsonic speed (relative to the Sun) because of interactions with the local interstellar medium. This causes compression, heating, and a change in the magnetic field.
A bow shock stands upstream from the magnetopause. It serves to decelerate and deflect the solar wind flow before it reaches the magnetopause. [10]
The magnetosheath is the region of space between the magnetopause and the bow shock of a planet's magnetosphere.The regularly organized magnetic field generated by the planet becomes weak and irregular in the magnetosheath due to interaction with the incoming solar wind, and is incapable of fully deflecting the highly charged particles.
Bow wave of a canal barge. A bow wave is the wave that forms at the bow of a ship when it moves through the water. [1] As the bow wave spreads out, it defines the outer limits of a ship's wake. A large bow wave slows the ship down, is a risk to smaller boats, and in a harbor can damage shore facilities and moored ships.