Suprathermal Electron Acceleration Comparison of the Venusian and Terrestrial Bow Shocks

Abstract We study suprathermal electron acceleration at the Venusian bow shock using the Parker Solar Probe gravity assists and the Venus Express spacecraft mission. The acceleration is classified by measuring the maximum energy and the power‐law spectral slope (index) of the electron phase space density immediately downstream of the shocks for energies between 200 and 2,000 eV. The identified Venusian shock crossings are then compared to terrestrial bow shock crossings with similar shock parameters using the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission. Our findings suggests that for a similar Mach number range 3–6, the power spectral index varies between −7 and −3, similarly at both planets. The power‐law slopes are found to be softer for shock crossings having oblique shock angles while harder values between −3 and −4 are found for shock angles around and . For our limited sample, the maximum energy is observed to be higher at the terrestrial bow shock, and the largest difference is found at shock angles close to .