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Motion of shocks through interplanetary streams
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Motion of shocks through interplanetary streams

L. F Burlaga and J. D Scudder
Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol.80(28), pp.4004-4010
10/01/1975
DOI: 10.1029/JA080i028p04004

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Abstract

A model for the motion of flare‐generated shocks through interplanetary streams is presented, illustrating the effects of a stream‐shock interaction on the shock strength and geometry. It is a gas dynamic calculation based on Whitham's method and on an empirical approximation for the relevant characteristics of streams. The results show that the Mach number of a shock can decrease appreciably to near unity in the interaction region ahead of streams and that the interaction of a spherically symmetric shock with a spiral‐shaped corotating stream can cause significant distortions of the initial shock front geometry. The geometry of the February 15–16, 1967, shock discussed by Lepping and Chao (1972) is qualitatively explained by this model.

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