Steinolfson, Numerical modeling of the solar wind interaction with Venus, Planet

Ahstraet. The large-scale (global) interaction of the wind around it. The shocked solar wind slows down as it approaches the planet. and as a consequence. the magnetic field strength builds up. resulting in the formation of a magnetic barrier located outside the dayside ionopause. The ionopause is usually coincident with the bottom of the magnetic barrier. It is one of the major aims of space plasma physics to measure the plasma properties through-out the whole atmosphere and to develop computer mod-els for its representation. Evaluation ofa computer model must depend ultimately on how well the results match observations. but valuable insight can also be gained by comparison of the results that were obtained by different numerical techniques and by analytical estimation if avail-able. performed for the case of the interplanetary magnetic field pe to the solar wind i?ow, The model reproduces several feat- of the interaction predicted by earlier theories and observations. The solar wind interaction with Venus is characterized by the mass loading of the solar wind with heavy oxygen ions which are produced by the photoionization of neutrals in the extensive ioxxx+phere. This mass loading slows down the solar w&d, and ultimately leads to the formation of a magnetic barrier and a magnetotail. The location of the bow shock is barely affected by different values of the magnetic field strength. 1