Mercury's magnetic field is tilted. That means its magnetic poles and geographic poles are not in the same place.
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The Magnetic Poles of Mercury

Mercury has a magnetic field. Its field is weak. Earth's magnetic field is tilted, and so is Mercury's. That means Mercury's magnetic poles are not in the same place as its geographic poles.

Mercury has a global magnetic field like Earth's. Earth's magnetic field is about 100 times stronger than Mercury's field. Scientists think swirling motions in the planet's molten iron core create Mercury's magnetic field. Mercury has a very large iron core. The core fills about 2/5ths of Mercury's volume. Earth's core fills less than 1/5th of Earth's volume.

Mercury's magnetic field is tilted. It is not lined up with the planet's spin axis. It is tilted about the same amount as Earth's magnetic field and as Jupiter's magnetic field. The fields of Uranus and Neptune are tilted a lot more; Saturn's field is tilted a lot less. Since Mercury's magnetic field is tilted, its magnetic poles are not located in the same places as its geographic poles.

Last modified May 29, 2009 by Randy Russell.

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