Comparison of the model results with the observations of MESSENGER and the results of a global MHD simulation. Panel a shows the magnetic field observations of MESSENGER on November 8, 2012 during orbit 1415. The vertical red lines indicate the bow shock (BS) and magnetopause (MP) crossing determined by visual inspection. The gray dashed lines indicate the boundary crossings determined by our model. Panels b and c show the modeled plasma density and velocity distribution within the magnetosheath for the same solar wind parameters used in Aizawa et al. (2021). The black line indicate the trajectory of MESSENGER for the time interval in panel a. The modeled plasma density/velocity along MESSENGER’s trajectory within the nightside magnetosheath and dayside magnetosheath are shown in panels d and e, and f and g, respectively.