On the relative locations of the bow shocks of the terrestrial planets

The observed bow shock encounters at Mercury, Venus and Mars are least square fit using the same technique so that their sizes and shapes can be intercompared. The shock front of Mercury most resembles the terrestrial shock in shape, and the shock stand off distance is consistent with the observed moment. The shapes of the Venus and Mars shock fronts more resemble each other than the earth's and the stand off distances are consistent with direct interaction of the solar wind with the ionosphere on the dayside. The Venus shock is closer to the planet than the Mars shock suggesting more absorption of the solar wind at Venus.