WASHINGTON, USA. 7 May. 2015.- The latest data from the Messenger probe, which struck last week against the surface of Mercury, revealed that the magnetic field of the planet formed 4,000 million years ago, according to a study published today in the journal Science.
These new data are an important step in the investigation of the planet closest to the Sun, one of the most difficult to analyze by scientists.
When the Messenger spacecraft flew near the surface Mercury, just 15 kilometers away, the magnetometer data collected rocks and revealed that the magnetic field is very old, between 3,700 and 3,900 million years.
In fact, the world originated around the time that the Earth, dating back 4,500 million years ago formed.
“The scientific data obtained by these recent observations are really interesting and what we have learned of the magnetic field is just the beginning “said Catherine Johnson, a planetary scientist at the University of British Columbia in Canada and lead author of the study
Mercury is the only planet in the solar system besides Earth, with similar magnetic field.; and it is caused by the motion of liquid iron in its core.
Messenger, a mission of 450 million dollars, was launched in August 2004 and in 2011 became the first probe to orbit Mercury , which is especially complex because the planet moves faster than the Earth (a spacecraft must travel about 104,607 kilometers per hour to reach it) and also face the heat of the sun.
The data has provided NASA probe are the first to come from the vicinity of Mercury from Mariner 10 sent, also American, between 1974 and 1975.
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