The Martian magnetic field

Abstract

The paper presents an overview of the Martian magnetic field measurements and the criticisms made of them. The measurements of the Mars 2, 3, and 5 spacecraft were interpreted by Dolginov et al. (1976, 1978) to be consistent with an intrinsic planetary magnetic moment of 2.5 times 10 to the 22nd power gauss cu cm, basing this result on the apparent size of the obstacle responsible for deflecting the solar wind and an apparent encounter of the spacecraft with the planetary field. It is shown that if the dependence of the Martian magnetic moment on the rotation rate was linear, the estimate of the moment would be far larger than reported by Dolginov et al. An upper limit of 250 km is calculated for the dynamo radius using the similarity law, compared with 500 km obtained by Dolginov et al. It is concluded that the possible strength of a Martian dynamo is below expectations, and it is likely that the Mars dynamo is not presently operative.