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Pressure balance and pressure distribution along the dayside ionopause of Venus

Abstract

The pressure distribution within the magnetic barrier just outside the ionopause of Venus is shown here to be similar to expected solar wind pressure variation provided the more realistic shape of the ionopause is taken into account. The ionospheric pressure just below the magnetic barrier is about equal to the solar wind pressure while magnetic field pressure within the magnetic barrier amounts to about two-thirds of both ionospheric and solar wind pressures. So we can expect that one-third of magnetic barrier pressure is accounted for by the hot plasma contribution.

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Vaisberg, O., Intriligator, D. & Smirnov, V. Pressure balance and pressure distribution along the dayside ionopause of Venus. Nature 286, 235–237 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1038/286235a0

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