This is a drawing of Earth with its magnetic field.
Click on image for full size
NASA

Planetary Magnets

The Earth has a dipole magnetic field. This is when magnetic field lines point in a direction out of the South Pole and into the North Pole. Planets can also have quadrupoles (4 poles) and octupoles (8-poles).

Some other planets have a magnetic field. Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune definitely have a magnetic field.

Last modified June 23, 2010 by Randy Russell.

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