Quasi-perpendicular shock structure and processes

Many of the achievements of cluster investigations in the field of investigating quasi-perpendicular shock transitions are discussed. Cluster has been able to probe the internal shock scales and motion via now-standard four spacecraft techniques. Non-planarity of the shock can be caused by large scale curvature or by rippling and waves around the shock. The finite shock width, combined with the presence of waves around the shock, results in uncertainty in the shock time of around a second. It was found that the timing method and the models are good estimators of the shock orientation.