Similarity in the flow of a magnetized plasma around a plate and a cylinder

The article is devoted to a verification of the law of similarity in the flow of a rarefied magnetized plasma around a body under conditions which simulate the conditions of flow around artificial earth satellites in the ionosphere. The law of similarity for flow around plates and cylinders of different sizes (R0/ϱi≈0.5–1, V0/Vi≈1.5–2) is confirmed experimentally. It is shown that the patterns of flow around a plate and a cylinder coincide at small values of the parameter δ(δ=R0/zH). The effect of the potential of the bodies on their flow patterns is studied.