A hard drive from space: Hidden magnetic messages uncovered
January 21, 2015
A hard drive from space: Hidden magnetic messages uncovered
8 hours ago
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An image of the Esquel meteorite, which consists of gem-quality cystals embedded in metal. The
magnetism of this metal has been used to investigate the development of planetary bodies 4.6
billions of years ago in the early solar system. Credit: Natural History Museum, London
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The dying moments of an asteroid's magnetic field have been successfully captured by researchers, in a study that offers a tantalising glimpse of what may happen to the Earth's magnetic core billions of years from now.
Using a detailed imaging technique, the research team were able to read the magnetic memory contained in ancient meteorites, formed in the early solar system over 4.5 billion years ago. The readings taken from these tiny 'space magnets' may give a sneak preview of the fate of the Earth's magnetic core as it continues to freeze. The findings are published today (22 January) in the journal Nature.
Using an intense beam of x-rays to image the nanoscale magnetisation of the meteoritic metal, researchers led by the University of Cambridge were able to capture the precise moment when the core of the meteorite's parent asteroid froze, killing its magnetic field. These 'nano-paleomagnetic' measurements, the highest-resolution paleomagnetic measurements ever made, were performed at the BESSY II synchrotron in Berlin.
The researchers found that the magnetic fields generated by asteroids were much longer-lived than previously thought, lasting for as long as several hundred million years after the asteroid formed, and were created by a similar mechanism to the one that generates the Earth's own magnetic field. The results help to answer many of the questions surrounding the longevity and stability of magnetic activity on small bodies, such as asteroids and moons.
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2015-01-death-dynamo-hard-space.html#jCp
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this is woo ... the universe is only 6,000 years old. There's a museum to prove it!
