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Judi Lynn

(160,219 posts)
Thu May 6, 2021, 02:21 AM May 2021

Saturn Has a Weirdly Neat, Symmetrical Magnetic Field. We May Finally Know Why



(NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute)
SPACE

MICHELLE STARR6 MAY 2021

Saturn really stands out among the Solar System planets, and not just because of its glorious system of rings. Its magnetic field is also peculiar; unlike other planets, with their off-axis fields, Saturn's magnetic field is almost perfectly symmetrical around its rotational axis.

This odd magnetic field, and the NASA Cassini mission that spent months swooping through it, represent a rare opportunity: to probe the interior of a gas giant, usually so difficult to peer into. Now, a new analysis of Cassini data has shown what might be happening inside Saturn to produce this strange magnetosphere.

This, in turn, can help us understand how Saturn came to be the way it is.

"By studying how Saturn formed and how it evolved over time, we can learn a lot about the formation of other planets similar to Saturn within our own Solar System, as well as beyond it," said planetary physicist Sabine Stanley of Johns Hopkins University.

More:
https://www.sciencealert.com/saturn-has-a-weirdly-neat-and-symmetrical-magnetic-field-helium-rain-might-be-why
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