The Cassini Mission of NASA has revealed a "lack of tilt" in Saturn's magnetic field that is causing scientists to rethink their understanding of the same.
For the planets to generate magnetic fields, it is important for a tilt to exist between the planet's rotation axis and its magnetic field axis.
This balance is necessary to sustain currents that flow through the liquid metal deep inside the planets. In Saturn's case, this was thought to be liquid metallic hydrogen.
In the case of the tilt's absence, scientists believed that the currents would stop flowing and the field would completely disappear. This, however, is in direct conflict with Cassini's latest finding.
In Saturn's case, Cassini's data indicated that the planet's magnetic field is completely aligned with its rotation axis.
"The tilt seems to be much smaller than we had previously estimated and quite challenging to explain," said Imperial College's Michele Dougherty, Cassini magnetometer investigation lead.
For the planets to generate magnetic fields, it is important for a tilt to exist between the planet's rotation axis and its magnetic field axis.
This balance is necessary to sustain currents that flow through the liquid metal deep inside the planets. In Saturn's case, this was thought to be liquid metallic hydrogen.
In the case of the tilt's absence, scientists believed that the currents would stop flowing and the field would completely disappear. This, however, is in direct conflict with Cassini's latest finding.
In Saturn's case, Cassini's data indicated that the planet's magnetic field is completely aligned with its rotation axis.
"The tilt seems to be much smaller than we had previously estimated and quite challenging to explain," said Imperial College's Michele Dougherty, Cassini magnetometer investigation lead.