The magnetic fields detected in a meteorite give clues … – RTVE

IRIN

A research team, headed by a student of graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has discovered magnetic fields of primitive meteorite chunks Semarkona , which gives clues to the formation of planets.

So, these magnetic fields would have had a major role in some of the processes of planet formation. It would have been through rapid accretion disc material toward the central star and the formation of the first solids .

The study, published in the journal Science , is based on a measurement of the meteorite indicate that an important role in the formation of the solar system factor are shock waves traveling through the cloud of dusty gas around the Sun, newly created.

Measurements unprecedented

“Measurements are staggering and unprecedented,” said Steve Deschm, co-author of the study. “They have not only measured tiny thousand times weaker than it can detect a compass magnetic fields, but have mapped the variation of magnetic fields recorded by the meteorite , millimeter by millimeter.”

The solar system formed 4,500 million years ago and is believed to emerge from a messy process, which left many remains have been able to study investigators.

Among the pieces that have provided more information are older, primitive and least altered meteorites , called chondrites.

They are pieces of asteroids, broken by collisions , which have remained relatively unchanged since they formed at the birth of the solar system. They consist of small stone beads , called chondrules, just a millimeter in diameter .

The chondrules were formed through events fast blow the dusty gas cloud nebula surrounding the solar- -the young sun.

Analysis of chondrules

The scientists focused specifically on the embedded magnetic fields on the dust grains olivine , which contain abundant iron ore . They had a magnetic field of about 54 microTesla, similar to the magnetic field at the surface of the Earth, ranging from 25-65 microTesla.

While in previous analyzes contaminated minerals were measured by field Magnetic Earth, “the new experiments probe magnetic minerals in chondrules than ever measured before,” Deschm indicated. “We also show that each chondrule is magnetized as a tiny bar magnet , but with a ‘north’ pointing in random directions,” he clarified.