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Published December 29, 1967 | public
Journal Article

Mariner V: Plasma and Magnetic Fields Observed near Venus

Abstract

Abrupt changes in the amplitude of the magnetic fluctuations, in the field strength, and in the plasma properties, were observed with Mariner V near Venus. They provide clear evidence for the presence of a bow shock around the planet, similar to, but much smaller than, that observed at Earth. The observations appear consistent with an interaction of the solar wind with the ionosphere of Venus. No planetary field could be detected, but a steady radial field and very low plasma density were found 10,000 to 20,000 kilometers behind Venus and 8,000 to 12,000 kilometers from the Sun-Venus line. These observations may be interpreted as relating to an expansion wave tending to fill the cavity produced by Venus in the solar wind. The upper limit to the magnetic dipole moment of Venus is estimated to be within a factor of 2 of 10^(-3) items that of Earth.

Additional Information

© 1967 American Association for the Advancement of Science. Received 11 December 1967. We thank the Mariner Project Staff at Jet Propulsion Laboratory; T. Dawson, Dr. J. M. Davis, Dr. J. Binsack, and R. McKinniss of M.I.T.; B. V. Connor, G. L. Reisdorf, and P. McKey of JPL. The plasma experiment was supported by NASA under JPL contract 951562. The magnetometer experiment was supported by NASA under research grants and contracts: NASW-7 (E.J.S.), Ns-G426 (L.D.), NGR-45-001-011 (D.E.J.), and NGR-05-007-065 (P.J .C.).

Additional details

Created:
August 19, 2023
Modified:
October 25, 2023