Observation of nonuniform structure of the earth's bow shock correlated with interplanetary field orientation.

Explorer 33 and 35 magnetometers, on the western and eastern flanks of the earth's bow shock, respectively, observed the boundary concurrently between 0130 and 0430 UT, Oct. 30, 1968. Contrasting shock structures were recorded. Explorer 35 saw a quiet abrupt shock, whereas Explorer 33 saw an irregular noisy boundary with much upstream wave activity. The interplanetary field was roughly in the average archimedean spiral angle and was therefore approximately tangent to the shock at Explorer 35 and normal to the shock at Explorer 33. Gross motions and variable tilting of the aberrated shock probably contributed to the peculiar sequence of shock crossings at the two spacecraft. The observations support a model of the shock in which perpendicular and oblique collisionless structures coexist and form a nonuniform magnetosheath outer boundary.