Planetary
Magnetic Fields: Mars
24.6hr rotation fast enough for
dynamo
Yet
- Field 5,000 times weaker than
Earths
Why?
- The radius of Mars is only 53%
that of the Earth. This would allow Mars to cool mor rapidly, leaving it without a
substantila fluid core. Without a fluid core, the dynamo effect cannot work, and
there is no large-scale magnetic field.
Additionally
- Mars has a (thin) atmosphere,
so like Venus, the solar wind interacts with ionosphere. This llows for charged
particles to exist around Mars, but there is no substantial magnetosphere.
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