Mercury has liquid metal core

2007/06/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Fisika
• Astronomia

Some measurements made from Earth have found that the magnetic field of the planet Mercury is influenced by the liquid core. So far he doubted whether the core of Mercury was solid or liquid: considering its small mass, they thought it was solid, but since they saw that it has magnetic field (although it was weak) they realized it could be liquid.

To know the nature of the nucleus, American and Russian researchers have been measuring for five years. In fact, Mercury has measured, among other things, the low oscillation of the axis when rotating and has measured the periodic changes of rotation. These measures have revealed that the nucleus of Mercury is liquid.