Mercury - Magnetic field and interior

Abstract

Present-day knowledge about the planetary magnetic field and interior of Mercury is reviewed. Radar observations are discussed which delineated the correct rotation rate of Mercury (58.646 days) and the planet's 3:2 spin-orbit resonance. The data obtained in Mariner 10 magnetic-field observations during the first and third encounters with Mercury are examined in detail, and theoretical studies of the planet's interior are summarized, including both steady-state models and those describing the thermal evolution of the planet. Two possible source mechanisms for the observed intrinsic planetary magnetic field are evaluated: an active dynamo and a passive paleomagnetic field frozen into the planet's outer layers at an earlier epoch. It is noted that neither the available magnetic-field data nor models of the planetary interior permit one to distinguish uniquely between the two mechanisms. The spin-orbit commensurability of Mercury is explained in the framework of the solar tides induced in the body of the planet, a nonaxisymmetric moment of inertia, and the highly eccentric orbit of the planet.