Episode 14 - Planet-sized Magnets

We all may be familiar with classic bar magnets from high school physics classes, and in particular the effect of iron filings forming peculiar onion-shaped patterns when in the presence of a magnetic field – but how exactly is this relevant to planets?

Thanks to Dr. Licia Ray, Senior Lecturer of Space and Planetary Physics at Lancaster University, we learn that the Earth is actually its own magnet with its own magnetosphere! Listen in to find out why both Earth and Jupiter (and surprisingly, Ganymede; a moon of Jupiter) are planetary magnets, but for some bizarre turn of events, Mars is not…