A magnetosheath is a transition region of shocked, heated, and deflected plasma that resides in front of a solar system object. It plays a crucial, yet often neglected, role in regulating the interaction between the solar wind and the obstacle. As the era of single satellite observations evolves into one of multi-satellite and cluster observations, alongside advances in computing resources and numerical methods, our knowledge of the details of the interactions that occur in the magnetosheath region is expanding rapidly.
The Cluster, THEMIS, MMS, and Geotail spacecraft have added remarkable information on the microphysics, dynamics, and spatial and temporal variations of the Earth’s magnetosheath while contributing to the development and improvement of state-of-the-art numerical and empirical models of this region. Observations such as by Messenger at Mercury, by Galileo and Juno at Jupiter, and by Cassini at Saturn have extended our knowledge of magnetosheaths around other planets in our solar system. Magnetosheaths also surround other solar system objects such as comets. They also form ahead of coronal mass ejections and are important drivers of space weather. Beyond the planets, IBEX and Voyager have enhanced our knowledge of the heliosheath, the distant frontier of our solar system, where the solar wind meets the interstellar wind.
The purpose of this announcement is to call for papers for a special issue of Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences describing state-of-the-art research related to all types of magnetosheaths in the solar system. Examples of research topics include:
• Structure of magnetosheaths.
• Waves in magnetosheaths.
• Transient features in magnetosheaths, such as jets.
• Reconnection, particle acceleration and turbulence in magnetosheaths.
• Connections between magnetosheaths, magnetopause, ionopause, cusps and ionospheres.
• Comparative magnetosheaths (e.g., CME sheaths, and planetary or cometary magnetosheaths).
• The role of magnetosheaths in modulating solar wind-obstacle interactions.
• Methods in modelling of magnetosheaths.
• Methods and techniques for observing magnetosheaths such as remote sensing and global imaging using X-rays or energetic neutral atoms.
• New missions to study magnetosheaths, such as SMILE for Earth.
We solicit original research papers, commentaries, or review papers that cover the theory, observations, and modelling of solar system magnetosheaths.
The requirements of each article type can be found
here.