Observations of two distinct populations of bow shock ions in the upstream solar wind
Observations upstream of the earth's bow shock with the LASL/MPI fast plasma experiments on ISEE 1 and 2 reveal the presence of two distinct and mutually exclusive populations of low energy (no more than 40 keV) ions apparently accelerated at the bow shock. The first of these, the 'reflected' population, is characterized by (1) sharply peaked spectra seldom extending much above about 10 keV/ion and (2) relatively collimated flow coming from the direction of the shock. On the other hand, the 'diffuse' ions are distinguished by relatively flat energy spectra above about 10 keV and broad angular distributions. They are by far the most commonly observed upstream ion event. A close causal association is suggested between the diffuse ion population in the upstream solar wind and energetic plasma ions observed within the magnetosheath.