Scientists have determined why Mercury has such a large core

New research refutes the hypothesis about why Mercury has a large core compared to the mantle (layer

between the core and crust of the planet).For decades, scientists have believed that collisions with other bodies during the formation of our solar system destroyed much of Mercury's rocky mantle, leaving behind a large, dense, metallic core. But new research shows that collisions are not to blame—solar magnetism is.

William McDonough, Maryland professor of geologyUniversity, and Takashi Yoshizaki of Tohoku University developed a model showing that the density, mass, and iron content of a rocky planet's core depends on its distance from the sun's magnetic field. An article describing the discovery appeared in the journal Progress in Earth and Planetary Science.

“The four planets of our solar system areMercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are made up of different proportions of metal and stone, McDonough said. - There is a tendency for the metal content in the core to decrease as the planets move away from the Sun. Our paper explains how this happened by showing that the distribution of raw materials in the early forming solar system was controlled by the sun's magnetic field.

Mercury and Venus approached at minimum distance

McDonough's new model shows that duringIn the early formation of the solar system, when the young Sun was surrounded by a swirling cloud of dust and gas, grains of iron were pulled towards the center by the Sun's magnetic field. When planets closer to the Sun began to form from clumps of this dust and gas, they included more iron in their cores than those that were farther away.

The researchers found that the density and proportioniron in the core of a rocky planet correlates with the strength of the magnetic field around the sun during planet formation. In a new study, they suggest that magnetism should be factored into future attempts to describe the composition of rocky planets, including those outside our solar system.

The composition of the planet's core is important for its potentialthe ability to maintain life. On Earth, for example, a molten iron core creates a magnetosphere that protects the planet from cancer-causing cosmic rays. The core also contains most of the phosphorus, an essential nutrient for maintaining carbon-based life.

Using existing formation modelsplanets, McDonough determined the rate at which gas and dust were drawn into the center of our solar system during its formation. He took into account the magnetic field that the sun should have generated when it appeared, and calculated how this magnetic field would pull iron through a cloud of dust and gas.

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