Journal article
Bow shock oscillations of Mars under weakly disturbed solar wind conditions
Nature communications, Vol.16(1), 9649
10/31/2025
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-65011-8
PMCID: PMC12578890
PMID: 41173895
Abstract
Bow shock, where the solar wind first encounters the Martian environment, reflects the complex interplay between the solar wind and Martian upper atmosphere and crustal fields. However, a comprehensive understanding of Martian bow shock dynamics remains elusive due to limited multi-spacecraft observations. Here, leveraging the joint observations from China’s Tianwen-1 and NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN), we reveal Martian bow shock oscillations with a temporal scale of minutes and spatial extents of hundreds of kilometers during weakly disturbed solar wind. Our analysis of the observations along with three-dimensional simulations suggests that magnetosonic Mach number is the most sensitive parameter influencing the bow shock, and a slow solar wind stream that favors low Mach numbers may lead to the large-scale bow shock oscillations and the whole Martian space environment. This finding advances our understanding of the interactions between the solar wind and non-magnetized planets.
Mars’ bow shock, where the solar wind meets the planet’s plasma environment, responds dynamically to solar wind conditions. Here, the authors show that even under relatively calm solar wind, it globally oscillates within minutes and shifts by hundreds of kilometers.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Bow shock oscillations of Mars under weakly disturbed solar wind conditions
- Creators
- Long Cheng - University of Science and Technology of ChinaYuming Wang - University of Science and Technology of ChinaYingjuan Ma - University of California, Los AngelesRobert Lillis - University of California, BerkeleyJasper Halekas - University of IowaBenoit Langlais - Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueTielong Zhang - University of Science and Technology of ChinaAibing Zhang - Chinese Academy of SciencesGuoqiang Wang - Harbin Institute of TechnologySudong Xiao - Harbin Institute of TechnologyZhuxuan Zou - University of Science and Technology of ChinaYutian Chi - Institute of Deep Space Sciences, Deep Space Exploration LaboratoryXinjun Hao - University of Science and Technology of ChinaYiren Li - University of Science and Technology of ChinaZonghao Pan - University of Science and Technology of ChinaKai Liu - University of Science and Technology of China
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Nature communications, Vol.16(1), 9649
- DOI
- 10.1038/s41467-025-65011-8
- PMID
- 41173895
- PMCID
- PMC12578890
- NLM abbreviation
- Nat Commun
- ISSN
- 2041-1723
- eISSN
- 2041-1723
- Publisher
- Nature Publishing Group UK
- Grant note
- 42130204; 42188101; 42404164 / National Science Foundation of China | National Natural Science Foundation of China-Yunnan Joint Fund (NSFC-Yunnan Joint Fund) (https://doi.org/10.13039/501100011002)
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 10/31/2025
- Academic Unit
- Physics and Astronomy
- Record Identifier
- 9985024252902771
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