Can you tell me about the magnetic field properties of the solar planets?

Hello Mike,
Well, I thought I was going to be able to simply send you
to:
http://seds.lpl.arizona.edu/nineplanets/nineplanets/
but they don't really tabulate the magnetic fields.
Instead, I looked in an introductory astronomy textbook and
an astrophysical data book.
Mercury, Venus and Mars have magnetic fields that are 1/1000th
that of the Earth. Jupiter has a magnetic field that is over
10 timess that of the Earth, and Saturn, Uranus and Neptune
have fields with strengths that are on the same order as the
Earth. Pluto simply had not been measured (at least as of
the time my books went to press).
Magnetic fields are created when charged particles move. In the
Earth, the origin for the flow of charged particles is presumed
to be in the core where the pressure is so high that metals are
molten and electrons zip off the slower moving atoms. these electrons
and the ionized atoms they leave behind, are the moving charges
that spawn a magnetic field.

Thanks for your question - feel free to write again. We're
always interested in what prompts your question, too!

Regards,
Debra

Back to the Ask An Astronomer page.