The Martian bow wave - Theory and observation.

Refinement of the relationship between the trajectory of Mariner 4 in its fly-by of Mars and the calculated location of a proposed Martian bow arising from interaction of the solar wind and the ionosphere by inclusion of aberration effects of the planet's motion about the sun. The modified theory indicates that the bow wave was crossed twice during a three-hour interval following the time of closest approach of Mariner 4 to Mars, instead of being missed slightly by the spacecraft as indicated in a previous paper in which the theory of this interaction was presented, and the solar wind was considered, for simplicity, to flow along the sun-Mars line. It is shown that the observed magnetic field changed abruptly at virtually the precise times of the shock crossings indicated by the theory. Although malfunction of the plasma probe prevents observational confirmation of these as shock crossings, this coincidence supports the recent suggestion of the magnetometer experimenters that a bow wave may have been traversed. It also supports the interpretation that the bow wave results from interaction of the solar wind with the ionosphere, and not with a weak planetary magnetic field.