LAUSR

Draping features of the interplanetary magnetic field around non-magnetic bodies, especially Venus, have been studied in detail in numerical simulations and also from observations. Existing analytical and numerical work for non-perpendicular IMF and solar wind velocity direction show a kink in the draped fieldlines in the near magnetosheath on the quasi-parallel side of the bow shock. Here, long-term magnetic field data from the Venus Express mission (2006-2014) are analyzed in the near night-side region of the magnetosheath, searching for differences in the draping pattern between the quasi-parallel- and quasi-perpendicular side of the shock. From these MAG data, the kink in the fieldlines occurring only on the quasi-parallel side is clearly identified from the change of sign in the field component parallel to the solar wind velocity. Furthermore, an asymmetry in the deflection of the out-of-plane field component due to the slipping of the fieldlines over the planetary obstacle is also found, which confirms predictions from numeral studies and from earlier work.