magnetic field Archives

Artist’s impression of the interaction between the star (GJ 436) and the exoplanet (GJ 436 b). Credit: IAA-CSIC/LampScience

Magnetic Fields, Electromagnetism, bioelectricity,

The Strongest Evidence To Date Of A Magnetic Field On An Exoplanet

by Keith CowingJune 29, 2026June 29, 2026

[IAC] The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC) is taking part in an international study, published in the journal “Science”, which provides the first conclusive evidence of a planet’s influence […]

Mars

New Evidence Suggests Vast Hidden Magma Systems Inside Mars

by Keith CowingJune 29, 2026June 29, 2026

[University of Oxford] Researchers from the University of Oxford have uncovered evidence that Mars once hosted enormous, Earth-like magmatic systems deep beneath its surface – despite the planet lacking the […]

This artist’s illustration shows the magnetic activity around a hot Jupiter exoplanet. Hot Jupiters have one side that is always facing their host star and is scorching hot, whereas the other side is extremely cold. This steep temperature difference creates fast winds that blow from the day side to the night side. The planet’s magnetic field, shown here with blue lines, can slow these winds down. Credit International Gemini Observatory/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/M. Garlick

Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Habitable Zones, Magnetic Fields, Electromagnetism, bioelectricity,, Press Release

Strange Winds Reveal Strongest Hints Yet Of Magnetic Activity In Exoplanets

by Keith CowingJune 3, 2026June 3, 2026

By measuring the strength of the invisible magnetic fields of seven ultra-hot Jupiters, astronomers have taken a major step toward understanding planets beyond our Solar System. A new study published […]

Panels show: A, B MAG magnetic field amplitude and vector;

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Magnetic Fields, Electromagnetism, bioelectricity,, Mars, Press Release, Radiation, Space Weather & Heliophysics

A Surprising Phenomenon Found In NASA Data From Mars

by Keith CowingJune 1, 2026June 1, 2026

Data beamed back from Mars by the NASA spacecraft MAVEN provides the first evidence that a phenomenon protecting planets from solar winds can occur in the atmospheres of worlds that […]

a The Viking 1 & 2 landers detected chlorinated breakdown products likely formed through interactions between organics and oxychlorine anions during thermal volatilization utilized for analysis11,12, b the Curiosity rover identified various functionalized organic fragments and long-chain n-alkanes (for simplicity, a subset is illustrated here)13,15, and the Perseverance rover measured redox-driven organo-mineral associations and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs); * indicates that PAHs reported by Fornaro et al. (2025) were found in different locations and geologic units than organo-mineral associations reported by Hurowitz et al. (2025)14,16. d Carbonaceous meteorites and asteroids delivered to planetary surfaces contain a rich array of organics, including some of the same compounds detected on Mars (e.g., macromolecular carbon, thiophenes, PAHs, long-chain n-alkanes), along with a diverse suite of prebiotic organics, which highlights the importance of understanding abiotic background material when searching for organic biosignatures on Mars5,6,7,18. Image credits: a NASA/JPL, b NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS, c NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS, d NASA/Goddard/University of Arizona. -- Nature via PubMed

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Status Report

An Organics-forward Approach To Searching For Life On Mars

by Keith CowingMay 24, 2026May 24, 2026

The modern Martian surface is cold, dry, oxidizing, and perpetually bombarded with radiation, rendering it generally inhospitable to life as we know it.

Discrete mesh for the 3-D model with a heterogeneous ice shell thickness. The ice shell surface and base are constrained by models depicted in Figure 1 and described in Table 1. The yellow circle depicts the ice base of the mean ice shell, corresponding to the 1-D model. Three colors denote ice, ocean, and core regions. Each region is assigned a homogeneous electrical conductivity according to Table 2. The total number of cells in the mesh is 126976. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Enceladus, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Press Release

Exploring Enceladus’s Interior Structure Using Electromagnetic Induction

by Keith CowingMay 13, 2026May 13, 2026

Electromagnetic (EM) sounding can constrain the electrical structure of Enceladus and, in turn, the salinity of its ocean and the porosity, fluid content, and thermal state of its hydrothermally active […]

Numerical ocean-induction setup for Ganymede in a deep-ocean scenario with REM = 1.77 . Ganymede's internal structure is depicted, featuring the ice crust, the deep ocean with its simulated zonal flow, the internal ice layer, the silicate mantle, and the metallic core. Yellow tubes visualize the magnetic field lines. The bottom-right panel shows how magnetic field lines are sheared by the zonal (east–west) jet flow in the ocean (blue/red denote westward/eastward jets, respectively), thereby reflecting the secondary magnetic field induced by such dynamics. -- Geophysical Research Letters

Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Ganymede, Icy Worlds, Jupiter, Magnetic Fields, Electromagnetism, bioelectricity,, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Motional Induction in Ganymede’s Ocean

by Keith CowingMay 10, 2026May 11, 2026

We investigate the magnetic signature of oceanic circulation in Ganymede’s subsurface ocean using kinematic induction modeling. Our approach couples zonal jet flows from rotating thermal convection simulations with magnetic field […]

Artist’s impression of the simulations conducted in this research. Jupiter (lower left) has a strong magnetic field which creates a cavity in its circumplanetary disk. Saturn (upper right) lacks a strong magnetic field so its circumplanetary disk evolves without a cavity. Credit: Yuri I. Fujii/L-INSIGHT [Kyoto University], Illustrator: Shinichiro Kinoshita

Astrogeology, Callisto, Enceladus, Europa, Ganymede, Gas Giants, Icy Worlds, Io, Jupiter, Magnetic Fields, Electromagnetism, bioelectricity,, Press Release, Rhea, Saturn, Titan, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

How Jupiter Cultivated More Large Moons Than Saturn

by Keith CowingApril 8, 2026April 8, 2026

The two largest planets in our Solar System, Jupiter and Saturn, also have the largest satellite systems, or the most moons. At present, Jupiter’s reported moon count stands at more […]

Astrogeology, Ganymede, Icy Worlds, Jupiter, Magnetic Fields, Electromagnetism, bioelectricity,, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Motional Induction In Ganymede’s Ocean

by Keith CowingMarch 14, 2026March 14, 2026

The reconstructed timeframe of the YSDP-4 drill core. (A) Depth-adjusted χfd% series (gray curve)

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extinction events, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Magnetic Fields, Electromagnetism, bioelectricity,, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

New Study Reveals Asynchronous Land–ocean Responses To Ancient Ocean Anoxia

by Keith CowingMarch 9, 2026March 9, 2026

Earth experienced a period of intense, large-scale volcanism during the early Aptian. Around that time, it also experienced widespread ocean deoxygenation during the Oceanic Anoxic Event 1a (OAE1a) as well […]