Open AccessPlanetary Magnetic Fields as a Test of the Dynamo Theory
Author(s) -
Runcorn S. K.
Publication year - 1968
Publication title -
geophysical journal of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1365-246X
pISSN - 0016-8009
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-246x.1968.tb05757.x
Subject(s) - dynamo , planet , physics , mercury's magnetic field , dynamo theory , venus , mars exploration program , magnetic field , jupiter (rocket family) , geophysics , astronomy , astrobiology , solar wind , interplanetary magnetic field , space exploration , quantum mechanics
Summary The negative results of the efforts to detect the main magnetic fields of the Moon, Mars and Venus by space vehicles and the inference from radio noise received from Jupiter that this planet alone has a magnetic field, provides an interesting challenge for the dynamo theory. These results have been reviewed by Kern & Vestine (1963) and by Hide (1966), but they are now considered in relation to data and theories on the existence of electrically conducting cores in these planets. It is shown that the dynamo theory of the generation of a magnetic field from a turbulent fluid core predicts the existence of irregularities in the rotation of the planet's mantle—an observation which has been made for the Earth and probably for Jupiter.