Can solar wind viscous drag account for CME deceleration?

The forces acting on solar Coronal Mass Ejections
(CMEs) in the interplanetary medium have been evaluated
so far in terms of an empirical drag coefficient CD ∼ 1 that
quantifies the role of the aerodynamic drag experienced by
a typical CME due to its interaction with the ambient solar
wind. We use a microphysical prescription for viscosity in
the turbulent solar wind to obtain an analytical model for
the drag coefficient CD. This is the first physical charac-
terization of the aerodynamic drag experienced by CMEs.
We use this physically motivated prescription for CD in a
simple, 1D model for CME propagation to obtain velocity
profiles and travel times that agree well with observations
of deceleration experienced by fast CMEs....


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