NASA: Solar Storms Can Change Direction and Velocity!!

NASA = Never A Straight Answer

More info coming to light every day.

Sounds like particles moving thru a magnetic field. A big magnetic field.

+1.01

Interesting OP

From the 2nd link:

"CMEs are expected to interact with the solar wind and the interplanetary magnetic field. Studies that compare in situ CME velocity measurements with initial eruption speeds through the corona show that slow CMEs are accelerated towards the speed of the solar wind, and fast CMEs decelerated"

"The non-radial motion we quantify here may be evidence of the drawn-out magnetic dipole field of the Sun, an effect predicted at solar minimum because of the influence of solar wind pressure. Other possible influences include changes to the internal current of the magnetic flux rope11, or the orientation of the magnetic flux rope with respect to the background field, whereby magnetic pressure can function asymmetrically to deflect the flux rope poleward or equatorward depending on the field configurations."

"This angular expansion is evidence of an initial overpressure of the CME relative to the surrounding corona. The expansion then tends to a constant during the later drag phase of CME propagation, as it expands to maintain pressure balance with heliocentric distance. It is theorized that the expansion may be attributed to two types of kinematic evolution, namely, spherical expansion due to simple convection with the ambient solar wind in a diverging geometry, and expansion due to a pressure gradient between the flux rope and solar wind"

"Wang-Sheeley-Arge solar wind model run reveals higher speed solar wind flows (~650 km s−1) emanating from open-field regions at high/low latitudes (approximately 30° north/south of the solar equator). Once the initial prominence/CME eruption occurs and is deflected into a non-radial trajectory, it undergoes asymmetric expansion in the solar wind. It is prevented from expanding upwards into the open-field high-speed stream at higher latitudes, and the high internal pressure of the CME relative to the slower solar wind near the ecliptic accounts for its expansion predominantly to the south."

"The early acceleration phase results from the rapid release of energy when the CME dynamics are dominated by outward magnetic and gas pressure forces. Different models can reproduce the early acceleration profiles of CME observations, although it is difficult to distinguish between them with absolute certainty. For this event, the acceleration phase coincides with a strong angular expansion of the CME in the low corona, which tends towards a constant in the later observed propagation in the solar wind. Although, statistically, expansion of CMEs is a common occurrence, it is difficult to accurately determine the magnitude and rate of expansion across the two-dimensional plane-of-sky images for individual events."

graph from article:

panels show proton density, bulk flow speed, proton temperature and magnetic field strength and components. The red dashed lines indicate the predicted window of CME arrival time from our ENLIL with Cone Model run (08:09–13:20 UT on 16 December 2008). We observed a magnetic cloud flux rope signature behind the front, highlighted by the blue dash-dotted lines.

[link to www.nature.com]