The magnetic record stored in rocks documents the liquid core’s behavior and possibly when the inner core formed. Whether it formed half a billion or more than a billion years ago, however, is up for debate.
magnetic fields & magnetism
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Modification of Energetic Particles Loss Cone During Storms
The loss cone of energetic particles in the Earth’s inner magnetosphere is substantially modified during disturbed times, with important implications for the radiation-belt and ring current modeling.
Posted inNews
Earth’s Wobbly Inner Core Illuminated by Nuclear Explosions
Shock waves from Cold War era nuclear tests gave seismologists a glimpse of the inner core. Its wobbly rotation could explain phenomena such as the periodic change in the length of a day.
Posted inENGAGE, News
High Schoolers Measure Earth’s Magnetism from Space
The experiment was one of the winning projects of the Astro Pi Challenge, in which hundreds of young scientists analyzed data collected from the International Space Station.
Posted inNews
Unlocking the Magmatic Secrets of Antarctica’s Mount Erebus
Unprecedented images of Mount Erebus’s inner workings show the unique trappings of a CO2-rich rift volcano.
Posted inNews
More Than Marsquakes: InSight Yielded Magnetism, Weather Discoveries
A secondary suite of instruments on the Mars lander produced a first look at magnetic fields from the planet’s surface.
Posted inNews
Why Did Sunspots Disappear for 70 Years? Nearby Star Holds Clues
Five decades of data revealed a star undergoing a pause in magnetic activity similar to what the Sun experienced almost 400 years ago.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Time-Step Filtering in Holocene Global Magnetic Field Models
Through a local fixed time-step filter, global Holocene magnetic field models remain mathematically tractable refining our insight into field variability and improving archeological dating.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Los microbios podrían comer minerales magnéticos en un sitio de derrame de petróleo
Nuevos experimentos en un antiguo sitio de derrames de petróleo en Minnesota sugieren que los procesos no biológicos por sí solos no pueden explicar la disminución de la magnetización.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Solar Wind a Major Driver of Atmospheric Sodium at Mercury
MESSENGER observations show a 50% rise in atmospheric sodium-group ions during periods of high solar wind activity.