Name: Thomas E. Burnes
Status: Other
Age: N/A
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: N/A
Question:
Are meteors magnetic? Are asteroids magnetic?
Replies:
I was surprised to find out that the answer to both these questions is some-
times yes. A Sky and Telescope article from last July says "certain meteor-
ites, particularly irons, stony-irons, and some ordinary chondrites, can be
distinctly magnetized." (A chondrite is a type of meteorite that contains
little BB-sized pieces of glassy material.) That same article says that at
least one asteroid appears to be magnetized. When the Galileo spacecraft
flew past the asteroid named Gaspra in October 1991 it detected a magnetic
field around the asteroid. It is now believed that this field is due to
magnetized solid metal in Gaspra (Gaspra is too small to have a molten core,
which is what gives the Earth its field). It is not known how Gaspra became
magnetized. And if one asteroid is magnetic, surely other asteroids are,
too.
NEWTON is an electronic community for Science, Math, and Computer Science K-12 Educators, sponsored and operated by Argonne National Laboratory's Educational Programs, Andrew Skipor, Ph.D., Head of Educational Programs.
