Meteorite Samples Unveil Traces of Ancient Magnetic Field That May Have Helped Build the Solar System
Learn how a magnetic field may have helped shape the Solar System, embedding traces of ancient magnetism within a meteorite from Antarctica.
A new study has revealed traces of an ancient magnetic field that may have played a crucial role in the formation of the Solar System. The discovery, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, sheds light on a magnetic field that existed during the solar nebula phase, the period before the Solar System transformed into a disk.
This magnetic field, estimated to be between 150 to 600 microteslas, is significantly stronger than the Earth's current magnetic field, around 3 to 12 times more powerful. The researchers analyzed calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions (CAIs) found in meteorite DOM 08006, one of the most primitive meteorites known to exist. These CAIs, which date back to the first 200,000 years of the Solar System's formation, contain minerals that locked in the strength of the magnetic field during the solar nebula's collapse.
While the exact physical environment of the early solar nebula remains unclear, the study suggests that magnetic fields, alongside gravity, played a vital role in the formation of the sun and planets.
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