What does a magnetic field tell us about a planet’s interior? A planet’s magnetic field forms a shield protecting the planet’s surface from energetic, charged particles coming from the Sun and other places. The Sun is constantly sending out charged particles, called the solar wind, into the solar system.
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What is the connection between a planet's interior and its magnetic field?
What does a magnetic field tell us about a planet's interior? A planet's magnetic field forms a shield protecting the planet's surface from energetic, charged particles coming from the Sun and other places.
What can we learn from a planet’s magnetic field?
Nov 21, 2018 · The link between a planet’s interior and its magnetic field also provides a way for astronomers to learn about the makeup and ages of exoplanets too far away to visit. “This is far in the future, but if someone makes an observation of an exoplanet and they find a magnetic …
Why doesn't the Earth have a magnetic field?
Nov 21, 2018 · The link between a planet's interior and its magnetic field also provides a way for astronomers to learn about the makeup and ages of exoplanets too far away to visit.
Why does Mercury have such a bizarre magnetic field?
The conclusions also have implications for chances for life on other planets. As magma oceans cool from the top, a surface hospitable to life could appear while the melted mantle continues …
What does the existence of a planetary magnetic field tell us about a planet's interior?
What do magnetic fields do for planets?
What happens in Earth's interior to produce a magnetic field?
Does a planet need a magnetic field to be habitable?
How does magnetic field protect Earth?
How can you tell if a planet has a magnetic field?
Is Earth's magnetic field caused by substances inside the planet?
How do we know about the Earth's interior?
Which layer of the Earth's interior is responsible for creating the Earth's magnetic field?
Why is magnetic field on a planet important for habitability quizlet?
Why is the magnetic field important for life?
Why is a global magnetic field necessary for life to exist on the surface of planet?
Where is the magnetic field of Earth?
The magnetic field of Earth today is generated in the molten-iron outer core, where rising and sinking masses of electrically conducting liquid iron, combined with the planet's spin, create a dynamo and a persistent magnetic field.
Do exoplanets have magnetic fields?
A new analysis looks at one type of exoplanet – super-Earths up to five times the size of our own planet – and concludes that they probably do have a magnetic field, but one generated in a totally novel way: by the planets' magma oceans. The surprising discovery that slowly churning melted rock at or under the surface can generate ...
What is super Earth?
An artist’s concept of a super-Earth in the habitable zone of a star smaller and cooler than the sun. Such large planets could have long-lasting magma oceans that generate magnetic fields capable of protecting incipient life.
What is the Kepler 62F?
The graphic was created to model Kepler-62f, one of many exoplanets discovered by NASA’s now inoperable Kepler space telescope. Credit: NASA Ames/JPL-Caltech/Tim Pyle. Every school kid knows that Earth has a magnetic field – it's what makes compasses align north-south and lets us navigate the oceans. It also protects the atmosphere, and thus life, ...
Jupiter
In early 1955, two young radio-astronomers started working with a cross-shaped antenna array of the Carnegie Institution's Department of Terrestrial Magnetism (DTM).
Other Planets
All four giant planets-- Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune --were visited by Voyager 2.
How does the Earth's magnetic field work?
The combination of the loose electrons and looping convective flow with the rotation of the earth results in a geodynamo that produces a magnetic field. Because the magnetic field is generated by a dynamically convecting and rotating sphere of liquid, it is unstable. Every now and then, after several hundred thousand to several million years, the earth’s magnetic field becomes unstable to the point that it temporarily shuts down. When it restarts, its north and south magnetic poles must inevitably be reversed, according to the physics of magnetic fields produced spontaneously from geodyamos. (For comparison, the magnetic field of the Sun, which is also produces by convecting electrical charges in a rotating sphere, becomes magnetically unstable and reverses its magnetic field on a more regular basis, every 11 years.)
Where does the Earth's magnetic field originate?
Earth’s Magnetic Field Originates in the Core. The liquid outer core is the source of the earth’s magnetic field, as a result of its metallic nature, which means it contains electrons not attached to particular nuclei. Heat is transferred upward to the mantle from the inner core via convective cells, in which the liquid in ...
How to understand seismic waves?
What You’ll Learn to Do 1 Compare the different seismic waves and understand how seismic waves help interpret the Earth’s interior. 2 Understand what the Earth’s magnetic field is and where it originates.
What is the source of the Earth's magnetic field?
The liquid outer core is the source of the earth’s magnetic field, as a result of its metallic nature, which means it contains electrons not attached to particular nuclei. Heat is transferred upward to the mantle from the inner core via convective cells, in which the liquid in the outer core flows in looping patterns.
Is the interior of the Earth layered?
The interior of the earth is not simply layered. Some of the layers, particularly the crust and lithosphere, are highly variable in thickness. The boundaries between layers are rough and irregular. Some layers penetrate other layers at certain places. Variations in the thickness of the earth’s layers, irregularities in layer boundaries, ...
Where does lava come from?
Contrary to a popular misconception, lava does not come from the earth’s core. Magma and lava come from only the lithosphere and asthenosphere, the upper 200 km of earth’s 6,400 km thickness. Attempts have been made to drill through the crust to reach the mantle, without success.
What is the study of seismic waves?
The study of seismic waves is known as seismology . Seismologists use seismic waves to learn about earthquakes and also to learn about the Earth’s interior. One ingenious way scientists learn about Earth’s interior is by looking at earthquake waves.
