This site is to help those of you who have chosen to do the Planetary Magnetic Fields
project for Swinburne Astronomy Online.
The general blurb for this project goes like this:
In this project you will investigate planetary magnetic fields - which planets have them and why. You should list all 8 major planets and mention which have magnetic fields and which don't. You should also consider the possibility of magnetic fields in Kuiper Belt Objects like Pluto. Divide those planets with magnetic fields into 2 or 3 subgroups, mentioning on what basis you have made these groups. To achieve high marks for this project you will need to mention the three main things necessary to maintain a planetary magnetic field and be able to relate them to the field strength of each planet.
A good place to start would be with your textbook. (The New Solar System
text has a nice chapter on magnetospheres.) Read up on the
basic background material covering magnetic fields for each of the planets (those that
have them!) and about what causes magnetic fields (which will help you think about why
those planets without magnetic fields don't have them). This should give you a basic
understanding of planetary magnetic fields and you can take it from there.
You could then do a detailed websearch on both "magnetic fields" (watch out for
links to the great band by the same name...) and "planetary magnetic fields", as
well as "dynamo theory" or "magnetic dynamo" for those of you that want to know more
about the physics involved. Note, however, that I do not expect a detailed summary of
dynamo theory - it's difficult stuff!
Good old fashioned libraries - with real books! - are also a great resource of
course. Especially University libraries if you have access to one.
Here are a couple of websites that might be a good place to start:
Please watch out for "Creation versus evolution" arguments while doing websearchs on
magnetic fields. I do not want to read about this debate in your projects thanks!
Remember we're doing astronomy here...
It would be great to see you using "real" references, by which I mean
scientific publications. If this is your first SAO unit and you've not
studied for a long time, you might be a bit nervous about writing a science
paper. Don't be afraid - SAO can help! For help with your writing see the
SAO
Writing Resources page. As well as tips on how to write academic articles,
you'll also see links to astronomy journals and archives. If you are an
advanced SAO student, you should be used to using and referring to
journal articles in your own writing.
I would strongly advise that you submit a project outline to me for comments
before submitting your final report. Ideally you'll submit your outline
at least two weeks before projects are due.
Finally, don't forget to use me as a resource too. If you're stuck or just
need a little guidance, feel free to email me and I'll be happy to help out.
Good luck!
