Astrophysics (Index)About

bow shock

(shock wave of a magnetosphere through the surrounding medium)

A bow shock is a bow-shaped (arc-shaped) shock wave caused by an object moving through a surrounding medium at higher than the medium's speed of sound. Unlike other shock waves, it is somewhat in front of the object rather than touching it. In some cases, a supersonic jet produces a bow shock in the atmosphere. A star or planet (e.g., Earth) can cause a bow shock in the medium surrounding the star's or planet's magnetosphere. The solar system was assumed to cause such a shock in the interstellar medium but recent data suggests it does not, implying that the relative speed of the solar system through the surrounding medium is subsonic.


(magnetism,physics,wave,shock)
Further reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bow_shocks_in_astrophysics
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bow_shock_(aerodynamics)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heliosphere#Bow_shock
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bow_shock
https://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/B/bow_shock.html
http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/~cairns/teaching/lecture13/node2.html

Referenced by pages:
magnetosphere
shock wave

Index