Mercury's magnetic field -- and why it has one

[n2doc]

Mercury is one oddball of a planet. For one thing, the tiny planet’s magnetic field is lopsided, shifted 300 miles north, according to data sent from an orbiting spacecraft.

But perhaps the more basic mystery is why Mercury has a magnetic field at all.

The Messenger spacecraft, launched in 2004, has been orbiting Mercury since March. Among the suite of spectrometers, cameras and other instruments, the spacecraft also sports a magnetometer to chart the planet’s magnetic field.

“The fact that it still has a liquid shell in its core seems to imply the core is not really pure iron,” said Brian Anderson, a space physicist at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory who led one of seven studies published in Friday’s edition of the journal Science.

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http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2011/10/mercurys-magnetic-field-and-why-it-has-one.html

[SheilaT]

1. My son once told me

that Mercury is apparently missing its outer layer, and what's there is only the mantle and core.

[Orrex]

2. And it causes Autism.

[trotsky]

3. Literal spit-take.

Thanks so much. :)
:spray: