Washington D.C— NASA’s Messenger has been all about the space, unveiling distinct findings. Lately, it reported that the planet nearest to the Sun, Mercury has a magnetic field that spans out to four billion years. It is reportedly the oldest possible field, ever discovered in the solar system or the Milky Way.
How Messenger operated?
Messenger notched up corrected data, after it was revolving in the orbit in very close proximity to Mercury. Johnson, one of the leading scientists in this revelation, commented that it has measured a plethora of weak fields notably in rocks, magnetized by the ancient electro-magnetic field of Mercury.
Nitty gritties understood
Johnson corroborated that the fields have been in vogue since the past four billion years. The data garnered revolves that there are low altitude orbital passes across heights of 50 km or less, prevalent above crater-strewn Mercurial surfaces. History of magnetic field remain recorded by the aid of magnetized rocks. This acts as a resource for understanding the nitty gritties of any planet and its history.
Magnetic field remnants still present
In the crust of Mercury, there are remnants of magnetic fields. This is perceivable from the remnants of myriad of magnetized rocks. The remnants have been deciphered with the aid of magnetic field measurements of Mercury taken by Messenger spacecraft, almost 150 km above the crust or even lesser.
Space expeditions
The scientists are now able to prove that any planet, almost 2440 km wide, holds molten iron core, which works as geodynamo, in order to unveil magnetic field. For the first time, it was found in the mid-1970s. This global magnetic field has been detected by NASA’s Mariner, while flying by the planet. In 2011, NASA launched Messenger. This spacecraft was NASA’s first probe that orbited Mercury. The mission completed in April, rendering results that awed and surprised researchers.