ANGEOD Annales Geophysicae Discussions ANGEOD Ann. Geophys. Discuss. 2568-6402 Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/angeo-2022-30 Bow shock characteristics from magnetic field observations Schmid Daniel https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7818-4338 1 Narita Yasuhito https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5332-8881 1 Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Schmiedlstr. 6, 8042 Graz, Austria 13 01 2023 2023 1 7 Copyright: © 2023 Daniel Schmid 2023 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This article is available from https://angeo.copernicus.org/preprints/angeo-2022-30/ The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://angeo.copernicus.org/preprints/angeo-2022-30/angeo-2022-30.pdf

<p>Based on the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) shock jump condition (Rankine-Hugoniot relation), we develop a tool to determine the relationship between the density jump, Alfven Mach number and the solar wind plasma beta directly from magnetic field observations across the shock. The presented method is a useful tool to characterize the bow shock around planets, where plasma data are often limited or even not available. In particular in view of the ongoing Bepi-Colombo mission the tool can help to diagnose and characterize the bow shock during the planetary flybys.</p>