MAGNETIC FIELD OF OTHER SOLAR SYSTEM OBJECTS: UPSC Daily Important Topic| 7 March 2022

MAGNETIC FIELD OF OTHER SOLAR SYSTEM OBJECTS

◇ Mercury – Mercury’s magnetic field is approximately a magnetic dipole (meaning the field has two poles) and is just 1.1% that of Earth’s magnetic field.  It’s proximity to the sun makes it next to impossible to sustain an atmosphere.

◇ Mars – Mars does not have an intrinsic global magnetic field, but the solar wind directly interacts with the atmosphere of Mars, leading to the formation of a magnetosphere.  The lack of a significant magnetosphere is thought to be one reason for Mars’s thin atmosphere.

◇ Venus – Venus lacks a magnetic field.  Its ionosphere separates the atmosphere from outer space and the solar wind.  In spite of the absence of a magnetic field, Venus’s atmosphere is one of the densest among the terrestrial planets.

◇ Jupiter – Jupiter has the largest magnetic field and a thick atmosphere.

◇ Saturn – Saturn’s magnetosphere is the second largest of any planet in the Solar System after Jupiter.