Time series of the modelled plasma and magnetic field parameters at Venus Express and STEREO-A for a spheromak of size R_ωEO. The in situ observations are given for comparison (black solid lines). The dashed coloured lines indicate the modelled time series at the exact location of the spacecraft, while the solid coloured lines are for the virtual spacecraft. All modelled curves were shifted by 1d18h for Venus Express and 1d16h for STEREO-A.