We present two multipoint interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) detected by the Tianwen-1 and Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution spacecraft at Mars and the BepiColombo (0.56 au ∼0.67 au) upstream of Mars from 2021 December 5 to 31. This is the first time that BepiColombo is used as an upstream solar wind monitor ahead of Mars and that Tianwen-1 is used to investigate the magnetic field characteristics of ICMEs at Mars. The Heliospheric Upwind Extrapolation time model was used to connect the multiple in situ observations and the coronagraph observations from STEREO/SECCHI and SOHO/LASCO. The first fast coronal mass ejection event (∼761.2 km s⁻¹), which erupted on December 4, impacted Mars centrally and grazed BepiColombo by its western flank. The ambient slow solar wind decelerated the west flank of the ICME, implying that the ICME event was significantly distorted by the solar wind structure. The second slow ICME event (∼390.7 km s⁻¹) underwent an acceleration from its eruption to a distance within 0.69 au and then traveled with the constant velocity of the ambient solar wind. These findings highlight the importance of background solar wind in determining the interplanetary evolution and global morphology of ICMEs up to Mars distance. Observations from multiple locations are invaluable for space weather studies at Mars and merit more exploration in the future.

SUMMARY: The rate of occurrence of anomalous ultra-low frequency electromagnetic (ULFEM) pulses has been claimed to have increased days to weeks prior to the M5.4 2007 and M4.0 2010 Alum Rock earthquakes. We re-examine the previously reported ultra-low frequency (ULF: 0.01–10 Hz) magnetic data recorded at a QuakeFinder site located 9 km from the earthquake hypocentre, and compare to data from a nearby Stanford-USGS site located 42 km from the hypocentre, to analyse the characteristics of the pulses and assess their origin. Using pulse definitions and pulse-counting algorithms analogous to those previously reported, we corroborate the increase in pulse counts before the 2007 Alum Rock earthquake at the QuakeFinder station, but we note that the number of pulses depends on chosen temporal and amplitude detection thresholds. These thresholds are arbitrary because we lack a clear physical model or basis for their selection. We do not see the same increase in pulse counts before the 2010 Alum Rock earthquake at the QuakeFinder or Stanford-USGS stations. In addition, the majority of pulses in the QuakeFinder data and Stanford-USGS data do not match temporally, indicating the pulses lack a common origin and are not from lightning or solar-driven ionospheric/magnetospheric disturbances. Our assessment of the temporal distribution of pulse counts shows pulse counts increase during peak human activity hours, suggesting these pulses result from local cultural noise and are not tectonic in origin. The many unknowns about the character and even existence of precursory earthquake pulses means that standard numerical and statistical tests cannot easily be applied. Yet here we show that exhaustive investigation of many different aspects of ULFEM signals can be used to properly characterize their origin.

When working with ultra-low-frequency (ULF) magnetic datasets, as with most geophysical time-series data, it is important to be able to distinguish between cultural signals, internal instrument noise, and natural external signals with their induced telluric fields. This distinction is commonly attempted using simultaneously recorded data from a spatially remote reference site. Here, instead, we compared data recorded by two systems with different instrumental characteristics at the same location over the same time period. We collocated two independent ULF magnetic systems, one from the QuakeFinder network and the other from the United States Geological Survey (USGS)-Stanford network, in order to cross-compare their data, characterize data reproducibility, and characterize signal origin. In addition, we used simultaneous measurements at a remote geomagnetic observatory to distinguish global atmospheric signals from local cultural signals. We demonstrated that the QuakeFinder and USGS-Stanford systems have excellent coherence, despite their different sensors and digitizers. Rare instances of isolated signals recorded by only one system or only one sensor indicate that caution is needed when attributing specific recorded signal features to specific origins.

The three successive coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that erupted from 2023 November 27–28, provide the first opportunity to shed light on the entire process of a shock propagating through, sequentially compressing, and modifying two preceding CMEs using in situ data from Solar Orbiter, Wind, and STEREO-A. We describe the interaction of the three CMEs as follows: CME-1 and CME-2 interacted with each other at distances close to the Sun. Subsequently, the shock (S3) driven by CME-3 caught up with and compressed ICME-2 before 0.83 au, forming a typical shock–ICME interaction event observed by the Solar Orbiter. The S3 continued to propagate, crossing ICME-2 and propagating into ICME-1 as observed by Wind, and completely overtaking both ICME-1 and ICME-2 at STEREO-A. The interaction between S3 and the preceding two ICMEs leads to a clear compression of preceding ICMEs including an increase in magnetic field (∼150%) and a reduction in the interval of ICMEs. It presents direct and compelling evidence that a shock can completely traverse two preceding CMEs, accompanied by a significant decrease in shock strength (magnetic compression ratio decrease from 1.74 to 1.49). Even though the three ICMEs interact significantly in the heliosphere, their magnetic field configurations exhibit coherence at different observation points, especially for ICME-3. Those results highlight the significant implications of shock–CME interactions for CME propagation and space weather forecasting.

The measurements from the Venus Express spacecraft are analyzed for the basic properties of fast forward interplanetary shocks at Venus’s orbit (∼0.72 au). A total of 143 fast forward interplanetary shock candidates during 2006–2014 are identified. The shock angle Θ_Bn, defined as the angle between the shock normal and the upstream magnetic field, and the magnetic compression ratio r _B, defined as the ratio of the magnetic field strength downstream to that upstream, of these shocks are determined based on the magnetic coplanarity method. The shock occurrence at Venus shows a correlated variation with the solar activity level measured by the number of sunspots, while the shock angle and magnetic compression ratio do not show such a correspondence. The shock angle spreads almost uniformly between 10° and 80° with its mean value at about 45°, and the magnetic compression ratio shows a unimodal distribution between 1.0 and 4.5 with a mean value of 2.1. In addition, we also analyze the properties of fast forward shocks driven by interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs). We found that interplanetary shocks with and without detected ICMEs showed no significant differences in terms of the shock strength and the shock angle. Further comparison with previous observational results at 1 au shows that fast forward shocks at 1 au are generally weaker than those at 0.72 au, and the shock angle Θ_Bn is more perpendicular at 1 au.

This work reports on the interaction between a fast forward shock and an interplanetary coronal-mass-ejection-like structure (ICMELS) as observed by in situ observations of radially aligned spacecraft. Around 2011 March 22, the Venus EXpress (VEX) and Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory-A (STEREO-A) were nearly at the same longitude, providing us with an excellent opportunity to study the formation and evolution of the complex structures. The shock and ICMELS investigated in this paper are isolated near Venus, but when they approach STEREO-A, the shock nearly approaches the front edge of the ICMELS and forms a shock–ICMELS complex structure. The maximal magnetic field in the ICMELS increased 2.3 times due to shock compression, according to the observation. The recovery model, which restores the shocked portion of the shock–ICMELS to its uncompressed condition, likewise confirms this improvement. The interaction with the ICMELS, on the other hand, weakens shock 2. The magnetic compression ratio falls from 2.4 at Venus to 2.0 at STEREO-A. This research enables us to have a better physical knowledge of the impacts of the interaction between a shock and an ICME (or ICMELS), which will aid future space weather predictions.