Plasma and magnetic field structure of a slow shock: Wind observations in interplanetary space

Abstract

This paper reports on the observation of an interplanetary slow shock on May 23, 1995 using 3-s plasma and magnetic field data from the Wind spacecraft. Since the time to traverse the shock (∼15 s) is much greater than the 3-s temporal resolution of the data, this observation can reveal the plasma and magnetic field structure through the interior of the shock. The 3-s data also provide accurate preshock and postshock 'conditions .immediately outside the shock layer. The flow speeds in the shock frame of reference Un < a cos ⊖ on both sides of the shock, Un1 > CS1, and Un2