Details

The connection between habitable climates [2] and the interplanetary magnetic field can be reformulated in terms of a collisionless magnetic bow shock. The angle between the bow shock surface normal vector and the local interplanetary magnetic field affects which plasma waves are generated by the bow shock [3]. References [3–5] discuss characterizations of waves near Earth's and Venus's bow shocks, respectively. Bow shock waves perturb the ionized layer of planetary atmospheres on short timescales [6] and are likely to alter the neutral layers on geologic timescales. Because all planets that possess a dynamo-driven or induced magnetic field also appear to possess bow shocks, their interactions with the interplanetary magnetic field are applicable to the study of extrasolar planets.

References

[1] G. D. Parker and J. R. Jokipii, "The Spiral Structure of the Interplanetary Magnetic Field," Geophysical Research Letters, 3(9), 1976 pp. 561–564. doi:10.1029/GL003i009p00561.

[2] D. C. Catling and J. F. Kasting, Atmospheric Evolution on Inhabited and Lifeless Worlds, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017 pp. I–Ii.

[3] L. B. Wilson III, "Low Frequency Waves at and Upstream of Collisionless Shocks," Low\[Hyphen]Frequency Waves in Space Plasmas (A. Keiling, D.\[Hyphen]H. Lee and V. Nakariakov, eds.), Washington, DC: American Geophysical Union, 2016 pp. 269–291. doi:10.1002/9781119055006.ch16.

[4] L. B. Wilson III et al., "Revisiting the Structure of Low\[Hyphen]Mach Number, Low\[Hyphen]beta, Quasi\[Hyphen]perpendicular Shocks," Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 122(9), 2017 pp. 9115–9133. doi:10.1002/2017JA024352.

[5] A. L. Brosius et al., "Minimum Variance Analysis of Planetary and Interplanetary Plasmas," American Geophysical Union 2020 Fall Meeting, 2020. agu.confex.com/agu/fm20/webprogram/Paper743885.html.

[6] B. Wang et al., "Dayside Magnetospheric and Ionospheric Responses to a Foreshock Transient on 25 June 2008: 2. 2-D Evolution Based on Dayside Auroral Imaging," Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 123(8), 2018 pp. 6347—6359. doi:10.1029/2017JA024846.