Friday, 20 December 2013

coronal mass ejection - What is the force of a CME on objects in space?

This isn't a complete answer, but it's a partial one: http://pwg.gsfc.nasa.gov/istp/outreach/sunearthmiscons.html




Despite the electromagnetic havoc they play with satellite electronics
and with Earth's magnetic field, the solar wind and CMEs barely exert
a pressure or force that you could measure. In fact, they couldn't
ruffle the hair on your head. The solar wind has fewer particles per
cubic centimeter than the best vacuums scientists have ever created on
Earth. Our own air is billions of times denser than the solar wind,
such that a cubic centimeter of air has as many particles as a cube of
solar wind measuring 10 kilometers on each side.




So, for your question on changing orbits - not very much. Granted everything moves a little under any pressure.



Now, the lighter the object is to it's surface area, the more a CME can move it, that's why a solar sail, very light weight and large area, might work. CMEs can also move gases, like the tail of a comet can be pushed visibly away from the sun (I read that, but misplaced the article), or lighter, high atmospheric gas can be blown away from smaller planets.



Also, no 2 CMEs are exactly alike. A smaller and/or a younger star will emit much stronger CMEs, so around a red dwarf for example, the effect might be more noticeable for tiny asteroids and the like.

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