Magnetic field data of the Pioneer Venus Orbiter (PVO) are used to exa
mine the configuration of the intermediate transition around the Venus
wake. The intermediate transition is a plasma boundary characterized
by a sudden decrease of the magnetic field intensity to low values in
the inner ionosheath and a strong rotation of the magnetic field orien
tation to a direction closer to the Sun-Venus axis. Measurements show
that the intermediate transition is not seen across the entire Venus w
ake but in an expansion fan that is formed around the solar wind-induc
ed magnetic polar regions of the Venus ionosheath. The magnetic field
geometry within the expansion fan is produced by ionosheath magnetic f
ield lines that are draped around those regions and that are then conv
ected by the shocked solar wind. Examples are shown where the intermed
iate transition is seen at positions different from those of ionospher
ic plasma clouds. Across both features the magnetic field may also exh
ibit a different rotation including changes in the polarity of its com
ponent along the Sun-Venus axis, A schematic of the magnetic field geo
metry within and in the vicinity of the expansion fan is presented. It
is argued that the expansion fan flares away from the Venus tail and
that the local orientation of the magnetic field is different from tha
t observed around the Venus dayside ionosphere.