Mercury's magnetic field is tilted by about 10°. Its magnetic poles and geographic poles are not, therefore, in the same place. Click on image for full size (72 Kb) Original artwork by Windows to the Universe staff.

Mercury has a weak magnetic field. Like Earth's magnetic field, Mercury's dipole field is tilted with respect to the planet's spin axis. This means that Mercury's magnetic poles and its geographic poles are not in the same place.

Mercury has a global magnetic field that is about 1% as strong as Earth's field. Mercury's magnetic field is apparently generated by swirling motions in the planet's molten iron core, in a manner similar to Earth. Mercury has a very large iron core; it fills about 42% of the planet's volume as compared to 17% for Earth.

Mercury's dipole magnetic field axis is tilted about 10° away from its spin axis. That tilt is very similar to Earth's (~11°) and Jupiter's (9.6°), much less than the tilt at Uranus (59°) and Neptune (47°), and larger than Saturn's (< 1°). Because Mercury's magnetic field is tilted, its magnetic poles are not located in quite the same places as are its geographic poles.

Mercury's magnetic field is tilted. That means its magnetic poles and geographic poles are not in the same place. Click on image for full size (72 Kb) Original artwork by Windows to the Universe staff.

Mercury has a magnetic field. Its field is weak. Earth's magnetic field is tilted, and so is Mercury's. That means Mercury's magnetic poles are not in the same place as its geographic poles.

Mercury has a global magnetic field like Earth's. Earth's magnetic field is about 100 times stronger than Mercury's field. Scientists think swirling motions in the planet's molten iron core create Mercury's magnetic field. Mercury has a very large iron core. The core fills about 2/5ths of Mercury's volume. Earth's core fills less than 1/5th of Earth's volume.

Mercury's magnetic field is tilted. It is not lined up with the planet's spin axis. It is tilted about the same amount as Earth's magnetic field and as Jupiter's magnetic field. The fields of Uranus and Neptune are tilted a lot more; Saturn's field is tilted a lot less. Since Mercury's magnetic field is tilted, its magnetic poles are not located in the same places as its geographic poles.

Mercury's magnetic field is tilted. That means its magnetic poles and geographic poles are not in the same place. Click on image for full size (72 Kb) Original artwork by Windows to the Universe staff.

Mercury has a magnetic field. Its field is weak. Earth's magnetic field is tilted. So is Mercury's. That means Mercury's magnetic poles are not in the same place as its geographic poles.

Mercury has a global magnetic field like Earth's. Earth's magnetic field is about 100 times stronger than Mercury's field. Scientists think swirling motions in the planet's molten iron core create Mercury's magnetic field. Mercury has a very large iron core. The core fills about 2/5ths of Mercury's volume. Earth's core fills less than 1/5th of Earth's volume.

Mercury's magnetic field is tilted. It is not lined up with the planet's spin axis. Since Mercury's magnetic field is tilted, its magnetic poles are not located in the same places as its geographic poles.