{"id":91644,"date":"2020-10-17T21:00:03","date_gmt":"2020-10-17T18:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/why-the-moons-early-magnetic-field-might-be-responsible-for-life-on-earth\/"},"modified":"2020-10-17T21:00:03","modified_gmt":"2020-10-17T18:00:03","slug":"why-the-moons-early-magnetic-field-might-be-responsible-for-life-on-earth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/why-the-moons-early-magnetic-field-might-be-responsible-for-life-on-earth\/","title":{"rendered":"#Why the moon\u2019s early magnetic field might be responsible for life on earth"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3ea2be99d69\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3ea2be99d69\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/why-the-moons-early-magnetic-field-might-be-responsible-for-life-on-earth\/#Probing_ancient_magnetic_fields\" >Probing ancient magnetic fields<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>#Why the moon\u2019s early magnetic field might be responsible for life on earth<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n                            The habitability of a planet depends on many factors. One is the existence of a strong and long-lived magnetic field. These fields are generated thousands of kilometers below the planet\u2019s surface in its liquid core and extend far into space \u2013 shielding the atmosphere from harmful solar radiation.<\/p>\n<p>Without a strong magnetic field, a planet struggles to hang on to a breathable atmosphere \u2013 which is bad <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a> for life as we know it. A new study, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/advances.sciencemag.org\/lookup\/doi\/10.1126\/sciadv.abc0865\">published in Science Advances<\/a>, suggests that the Moon\u2019s now extinct magnetic field may have helped protect our planet\u2019s atmosphere as life was forming around 4 billion years ago.<\/p>\n<p>Today, Earth has a strong global magnetic field <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/earths-magnetic-field-may-change-faster-than-we-thought-new-research-142752\">that protects the atmosphere<\/a> and low-orbiting satellites from harsh solar radiation. In contrast, the Moon does not possess either a breathable atmosphere or a global magnetic field.<\/p>\n<p>Global magnetic fields are generated by the motion of molten iron in the cores of planets and moons. Keeping the fluid moving requires energy, such as heat tr<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ed within the core. When there is insufficient energy, the field dies.<\/p>\n<p>Without a global magnetic field, the charged particles of the solar wind (radiation from the Sun) passing close to a planet generate electric fields that can accelerate charged atoms, known as ions, out of the atmosphere. This process is <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/how-did-mars-lose-its-habitable-climate-the-answer-is-blowing-in-the-solar-wind-50258\">happening today<\/a> on Mars and it is losing oxygen as a result \u2013 something that has been directly measured by the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/mars.nasa.gov\/maven\/\">Mars atmosphere and volatile evolution (Maven) mission<\/a>. The solar wind can also collide with the atmosphere and knock molecules into space.<\/p>\n<p>The Maven team estimates that the amount of oxygen lost from the Martian atmosphere throughout its history <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/abs\/pii\/S0019103517306917\">is equivalent<\/a> to that contained in a global layer of water, 23 meters thick.<\/p>\n<p><em>[Read: The Moon\u2019s surface is rusting \u2014 and Earth may be to blame]<\/em><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Probing_ancient_magnetic_fields\"><\/span>Probing ancient magnetic fields<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The new research investigates how the Earth\u2019s and Moon\u2019s early fields may have interacted. But probing these ancient fields isn\u2019t easy. Scientists rely on ancient rocks that contain small grains that got magnetized as the rocks formed, saving the direction and strength of the magnetic field at that time and place. Such rocks are rare and extracting their magnetic signal requires <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/are-the-earths-magnetic-poles-about-to-swap-places-strange-anomaly-gives-reassuring-clue-142859\">careful and delicate laboratory measurement<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"align-center \">\n<figure class=\"post-image post-mediaBleed aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px\" alt=\"A picture of the ancient moon with magnetic field lines.\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" class=\" lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/363444\/original\/file-20201014-21-b9ysdx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip\" data-lazy=\"true\" srcset=\"https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/363444\/original\/file-20201014-21-b9ysdx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=338&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 600w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/363444\/original\/file-20201014-21-b9ysdx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=338&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1200w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/363444\/original\/file-20201014-21-b9ysdx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=600&amp;h=338&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 1800w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/363444\/original\/file-20201014-21-b9ysdx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=424&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=1 754w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/363444\/original\/file-20201014-21-b9ysdx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=30&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=424&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=2 1508w, https:\/\/images.theconversation.com\/files\/363444\/original\/file-20201014-21-b9ysdx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=15&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;h=424&amp;fit=crop&amp;dpr=3 2262w\"\/><figcaption><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/syndication\/2020\/10\/17\/why-the-moons-early-magnetic-field-might-be-responsible-for-life-on-earth\/#\" data-url=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fthenextweb.com%2Fsyndication%2F2020%2F10%2F17%2Fwhy-the-moons-early-magnetic-field-might-be-responsible-for-life-on-earth%2F&amp;via=thenextweb&amp;related=thenextweb&amp;text=Check out this picture on: Our Moon, four billion years ago generated its own magnetic field. NASA\" data-title=\"Share Our Moon, four billion years ago generated its own magnetic field. NASA on Twitter\" data-width=\"685\" data-height=\"500\" class=\"post-image-share popitup\" title=\"Share Our Moon, four billion years ago generated its own magnetic field. NASA on Twitter\"><i class=\"icon icon--inline icon--twitter--dark\"\/><\/a>Our Moon, four billion years ago generated its own magnetic field. NASA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Such studies have, however, unveiled that Earth has generated a magnetic field for at least <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/20203044\/\">the last 3.5 billion years<\/a>, and possibly <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/26228145\/\">as far back as 4.2 billion years<\/a>, with a mean strength <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41561-018-0288-0?proof=t\">just over half<\/a> of the present-day value. We don\u2019t know much about how the field was behaving any earlier than that.<\/p>\n<p>By contrast, the Moon\u2019s field was perhaps even stronger than Earth\u2019s around 4 billion years ago, before <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/25477467\/\">precipitously declining<\/a> to a weak field state by 3.2 billion years ago. At present, little is known about the structure or time-variability of these ancient fields, though.<\/p>\n<p>Another complexity is the interaction between the early lunar and geomagnetic fields. The new paper, which modeled the interaction of two magnetic fields with north poles either aligned or the opposite, shows that the interaction extends the region of near-Earth space between our planet and the Sun that is shielded from the solar wind.<\/p>\n<p>The new study is an interesting first step towards understanding how important such effects would be when averaged over a lunar orbit or the hundreds of millions of years that are important for assessing planetary habitability. But to know for sure we need further modelling and more measurements of the strengths of the Earth and Moon\u2019s early magnetic fields.<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s more, a strong magnetic field does not guarantee the continued habitability of a planet\u2019s atmosphere \u2013 its surface and deep interior environments matter too, as do influences from space. For example, the brightness and activity of the Sun <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/mission-to-the-sun-will-protect-us-from-devastating-solar-storms-and-help-us-travel-deeper-into-space-78583\">has evolved<\/a> over billions of years and so has the ability of the solar wind to s<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">trip<\/a> atmospheres.<\/p>\n<p>How each of these factors contributes to the evolution of planetary habitability, and hence life, is still not fully understood. Their nature and how they interact with each other are also likely to change over geological timescales. But thankfully, the latest study has added another piece to an already fascinating puzzle.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;\" alt=\"The Conversation\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" class=\" lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/148111\/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic\" data-lazy=\"true\"\/><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https:\/\/theconversation.com\/republishing-guidelines --><\/p>\n<p><em>This article is republished from <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\">The Conversation<\/a> by <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/christopher-davies-393528\">Christopher Davies<\/a>, Associate Professor in Theoretical Geophysics, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/university-of-leeds-1122\">University of Leeds<\/a> and <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/jon-mound-333489\">Jon Mound<\/a>, Associate Professor of Geophysics, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/university-of-leeds-1122\">University of Leeds<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/life-on-earth-why-we-may-have-the-moons-now-defunct-magnetic-field-to-thank-for-it-148111\">original article<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/syndication\/2020\/10\/17\/why-the-moons-early-magnetic-field-might-be-responsible-for-life-on-earth\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#Why the moon\u2019s early magnetic field might be responsible for life on earth&#8221; The habitability of a planet depends on many factors. One is the existence of a strong and long-lived magnetic field. These fields are generated thousands of kilometers below the planet\u2019s surface in its liquid core and extend far into space \u2013 shielding&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":91645,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image\/tnw?filter_last=1&fit=1280,640&url=https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2020\/10\/1-7.jpg&signature=dc14e9468ac20fd7d841ce33a31549ed","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[74279,74503,76199,5025,5019,67821],"class_list":["post-91644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-atmosphere","tag-earth","tag-electromagnetism","tag-moon","tag-space","tag-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91644"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91644\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}