Planetary Magnetic

Fields

Many spacecraft carry

Magnetometers to measure the
Magnetic Field.

Mars Global
Surveyor

Advanced
Composition
Explorer

Galileo

Magnetic Field of Other

Planets
1. Mercury yes, but weak
2. Venus no, or very weak
3. Mars no clear evidence for field, but
might have had field in the past
4. Jupiter yes, very strong (20,000 times
earth)
5. Saturn yes 500 times earth
6. Uranus yes, strong tilt with respect to
rotational axis

Other Planets in our Solar System

have Magnetic Fields
Planet

Magnetic Field

Mercury

100 times weaker than Earth

Venus

25,000 times weaker than Earth

Earth

30,000 60,000 nT

Mars

5000 times weaker than Earth

Jupiter

20,000 times greater than Earth

Saturn

540 times greater than Earth

Uranus

40 times greater than Earth

Neptune

that of Earth

Pluto

None that we know of

Mercury
Mercury has a weak
magnetic field.
This suggests Mercury has
an iron core with liquid
interior.
The weak magnetic field
could be the result of the
slow rotation period.

 Mercury was visited by the Mariner 10

spacecraft., which made three passes of
the planet in 1974 and 1975.
The on-board magnetometer detected a
bow shock and a magnetopause which
imply that the planet has a magnetic field.
On the first encounter a magnetic field of
about 100nT was measured at an altitude
of 700 km, which was the point of closest
approach.

 Mercury is believed to have a large iron

core with a radius of about 1800 km,
proportionately larger than Earth's.
Probably part of this core is molten, so it is
possible that Mercury has a small active
internal dynamo.

Venus
Venus has a very weak
magnetic field.
(About 100,000 times weaker
than Earths)
Venus appears to lack the
necessary ingredients to
generate a magnetic field
(no liquid core?)
Venus also has very slow
rotation.

`
Venus was investigated by several
American and Russian spacecraft in
the 1960s.
The instruments on Mariner 5 in
1967 clearly detected a bow shock
from the collision of the solar wind
with the planetary atmosphere.

 The rotation of the planet is very slow

compared to that of the Earth: one sidereal
day on Venus lasts 243 Earth days, but the
size of the planet is close to that of the Earth.
It was therefore expected that Venus might
have an internal dynamo with a dipole
moment about 0.2 0/0 that of the Earth and
an equatorial surface field of about 86 nT.
It seems likely that the slow rotation does not
provide enough energy for an active dynamo.

Mars
Mars also has a very weak magnetic
field.
(About 5,000 times weaker than
Earths)
The interior of Mars appears to have
cooled so much that it is no longer
liquid.

The volcanoes in Mars are no longer

active
There is no Earthquake activity on Mars

 Mariner 4 in 1965 was the first American

spacecraft carrying magnetometers to visit Mars.
The survey measurements have nearly
uniform global coverage and show that there is no
significant global magnetic field at present.
This does not exclude the possible existence of a
dynamo-generated global field in the planet's
distant past.
The measured magnetic field consists of large
regional magnetic anomalies, which are attributed
to remanent magnetization of the crust.

Interior of Jupiter and Saturn

Jupiter
Jupiter has a strong magnetic
field.
(About 20,000 times stronger
than
Earths) planets generate
The Terrestrial
magnetic fields from iron at the
center.
But Jupiter has almost no iron
The
magnetic field of Jupiter is
core.
produced by the motion of
liquefied
metallic
hydrogen
found beneath the surface.

 Jupiter has been known since 1955 to

possess a strong magnetic field.
The spacecraft Pioneer 10 and 11 in 19734 and Voyager 1 and 2 in 1979 established
that the planet has a bow shock and
magnetopause.
From 1995 to 2003 the spacecraft Galileo
made extensive surveys of Jupiter's
magnetosphere.

 The huge magnetosphere encounters the

solar wind about 5,OOO,000km from the
planet; its magnetotail may extend all the
way to Saturn.
Two reasons account for the great size of
the magnetosphere compared to that of
Earth.
First, the solar wind pressure on the Jovian
atmosphere is weaker due to the greater
distance from the Sun;
Secondly, Jupiter's magnetic field is much

 The magnetic field of Jupiter results from

an active dynamo in the metallic hydrogen
core of the planet.
The core is probably very large, with a
radius up to 75% of the planet's radius.
This would explain the high harmonic
content of the magnetic field near the
planet.

Saturn
Saturn also has
magnetic field.

strong

(About 540 times stronger than

Saturns
magnetic field is
Earths
)
produced in
the same way
Jupiters is.

 Saturn was reached by Pioneer 11 in

1979 and the Voyager 1 and 2
spacecraft in 1980 and 1981,
respectively.
The on-board magnetometers
detected a bow shock and a
magnetopause.

 The field is generated by an active

dynamo in a conducting core that is
smaller relative to the size of the planet.
The axis of the dipole magnetic field lies
only about I away from the rotation axis,
in contrast to 11.4 on Earth and 9.7 on
Jupiter.

Interior of Uranus and

Neptune

Uranus
The magnetic field in Uranus is
about 40 times stronger than
Earths
It is probably created in the core
of the planet, with ice, rather
than with iron.

Neptune
The magnetic field in Uranus is
about 1/4 times as strong as
Earths
It is probably created in the
same way as Uranus

Pluto
We do not know if Pluto has a
magnetic field.
Because Pluto has a small size and
a slow rotation rate (1 day in Pluto
= 6.4 Earth days), it does not seem
likely that Pluto has a magnetic
field.

end