I have a quiz in my astronomy class tomorrow and the professor said this might be a question on the quiz. Any help would be appreciated. Compare the magnetic field of Earth and Jupiter. What is the source and how strong are they?
Jupiter's magnetic field is about 14 times as strong as the Earth's - it ranges from 4.2 gauss at the equator to around 10 gauss at the poles (it is the strongest magnetic field in the solar system expect for sunspots). Its believed to be generated by eddy currents (swirling movements of conducting materials) within the metallic hydrogen core. Earth's magnetic field varies from 0.3 gauss over parts of the southern hemisphere to about 0.6 gauss around the magnetic poles. It is mostly caused by electric currents in the liquid outer core (dynamo effect).
