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Mercury’s iron core is roughly the same size as Earth’s moon, occupying three-quarters of the planet’s diameter.
A new study notes that researchers are now saying this is likely due to the Sun’s magnetism and not to collisions with other celestial bodies as previously thought.
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The results indicate that during the early days of the solar system’s formation, the iron grains were attracted to the sun’s magnetic field.
Scientists believe that Mercury, the closest planet to the sun in our solar system, captured the greatest amount of iron filings (fine grains of iron that take the form of powder with each other), which which explains the density of the mineral core.
And when the planets started to form from the dust and gas that make up space, planets closer to the sun had more iron than those farther away.
Scientists note that other planets outside the solar system, such as K2-229b, have an iron composition similar to Mercury, unlike the makeup of their star.
Other iron-rich planets have been identified in deep space, orbiting a star similar in composition to the sun, which has led scientists to believe that the developed star’s magnetic field is what causes the presence of nearby planets with a core rich in iron. .
“The four inner planets of our solar system, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, are made up of different proportions of metal and rock,” said lead author of the study, William McDonough, professor of geology at the ‘University of Maryland.
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“There is a slope in which the metal content of the core decreases as the planets move away from the sun. Our article shows how this happened by showing that the distribution of raw materials in the early solar system was controlled. by the sun’s magnetic field, “he added.
In contrast, the Earth’s core is made of an alloy of iron and nickel and constitutes about a third of its mass, as is the case in the core of Venus. The heart of Mars is a little less than a quarter of its mass.
Scientists have found that the density and percentage of iron in the core of a rocky planet is closely related to the strength of the magnetic field.
As such, future studies of exoplanets must take into account the magnetism of distant stars to see if the exoplanets are rocky, which may indicate that they may be habitable.
“The possibility of a habitable zone in exoplanet systems may be influenced by the physical and chemical processes that control the distribution of metal and silicate in an evolved protoplanetary disk,” McDonough and other scientists wrote in the study.
These processes can control the size and composition of a planet’s core and the chemical ratio during planet formation, as well as the different types of minerals that can affect the amount of light elements entering the core.
They added: “These factors, along with the distribution of some vital elements, are essential in determining the habitability potential of the planet. “
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McDonough and the team of scientists used current models of planetary formation to determine the rate at which gas and dust are drawn to the center of the solar system.
Given the Sun’s magnetic field when it was created, the field will pull iron through dust and gas, forming the core of the inner planet.
Now you have to say, “Each planet might have more or less iron depending on the star’s magnetic properties when the solar system begins to grow.”
Experts will need to find another planetary system like ours, with rocky planets scattered over great distances, to see if the density decreases as the planets move away from the star, proving their theory.
Source: Daily Mail
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