The moon is an object large enough to have its own gravity – but did you know that the moon also had its own magnetic field? Overwhelming amounts of evidence seem to have turned the tide in the scientific community, making the official concensus on Moon magnetic fields a positive one – now, the question simply remains how long the field was active, and what caused it. Yeah – the Moon had a magnetic field, emphasis on had – nowadays, it’s just a very large, smooth rock floating in the Earth’s orbit. But, scientists now say that information on how long the Moon’s magnetic field lasted would give some insight into what created it – further allowing scientists to try and uncover what magnetic fields are in general, and how the core dynamos that create them are created through celestial interaction – such information would give insight into what we’d have to look for when searching for planets with life like ours. “Earth’s magnetic field plays an important role in shielding life on earth from harmful solar particles that could induce damage; magnetic fields nurture a planet’s habitability,” explained Sonia Tikoo, a postdoctoral researcher at the Univesity of California, in Berkeley. “If we can figure out the types of bodies that can generate a long-lived magnetic field, long enough for life to evolve on another planet, then that can tell us something.” Tikoo and Benjamin Weiss, a professor of planetary sciences at MIT published a paper together in the scientific journal Science, on the moon’s theoretical dynamo and explanations for the existence of its now-gone magnetic field. Back when the moon landing brought back some moon rocks, we realized that the moon’s geology is, in fact, magnetized – but they could’ve come from a chunk of a dead planet. It was only until recently that research showed that the moon had a magnetic field that possibly lasted over a billion years, before dying out some 3.5 billion years ago, long before the Earth even began sustaining life. - See more at: ift.tt/1vp5BvL DatSyn News - Research reveals moon had magnetic field
Posted on: Sat, 06 Dec 2014 05:52:44 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015