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Earth's electromagnetic field

h.g.Whiz

Illuminator
h.g.Whiz
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Oct 28, 2007
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If there was another planet like earth out there how would its electromagnetic field effect the signals that our instruments use for find them. Would they end up at its north pole.
 
Any signal from Earth will have spread so far as to blanket the whole planet.
 
Out where?

Effect how?

If pigs had wings, they still could not fly -- too heavy you know. :boggled:
 
Well, obviously you have to fit JATO units. That's what the wings are for, you aerosusologically challenged Canadian person.
 
Saturn V ain't got wings, but it got to the Moon!
Just strap on lotsa noisemaking pushie thingies.
Mythbusters made a sausage fueled rocket.
Kinda hard on the source of the sausage, though.
 
h.g.Whiz said:
If there was another planet like earth out there how would its electromagnetic field effect the signals that our instruments use for find them. Would they end up at its north pole.
Click to expand...
Can you clarify your first question?

I think you mean magnetic field, rather than electromagnetic. But did you mean:

  • "would the magnetic field of another planet affect our ability to discover the planet?", or
  • "would the magnetic field of another planet affect our instruments in the same way they are affected on Earth?"
Or something else?

Thanks.
 
BillC said:
Can you clarify your first question?

I think you mean magnetic field, rather than electromagnetic. But did you mean:

  • "would the magnetic field of another planet affect our ability to discover the planet?", or
  • "would the magnetic field of another planet affect our instruments in the same way they are affected on Earth?"
Or something else?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
[*]"would the magnetic field of another planet affect our ability to discover the planet?",
 
I'm not sure. Perhaps, if particularly intense, its interactions with other magnetic fields as it moves in and out of them in its orbit might be detectable by some means. Probably not, I think.
 
h.g.Whiz said:
[*]"would the magnetic field of another planet affect our ability to discover the planet?",
Click to expand...

No, at least not directly. You mentioned signals but I'm not 100% sure what you mean by the word "signal". If you're talking about light waves then the answer is 'not at all'. In classical Electro-Magnetic physics, light can pass right through a magnetic field without being changed at all.

Now, if you're signal is a stream of charged particles then yes, a big magnetic field could be a problem.

Anyway, the current method of looking for planets is to search for stars that are pulled into an egg-like shape by the gravity of a massive orbiting planet.
 
PingOfPong said:
No, at least not directly. You mentioned signals but I'm not 100% sure what you mean by the word "signal". If you're talking about light waves then the answer is 'not at all'. In classical Electro-Magnetic physics, light can pass right through a magnetic field without being changed at all.

Now, if you're signal is a stream of charged particles then yes, a big magnetic field could be a problem.

Anyway, the current method of looking for planets is to search for stars that are pulled into an egg-like shape by the gravity of a massive orbiting planet.
Click to expand...

So looking for a planet is sort of like looking for a small black hole
 
h.g.Whiz said:
So looking for a planet is sort of like looking for a small black hole
Click to expand...

Sure, looking for the effect of an object's gravity on neighboring stars is one way of deducing the existence of a dim object.

p.s. I'm not an astronomer, just an interested person, so take my answers with a grain of salt.
 
h.g.Whiz said:
So looking for a planet is sort of like looking for a small black hole
Click to expand...
.
The emitted light of the primary is diminished a tad when an large enough orbiting planet passes between it and the observer.
Planets are generally too small to change the shape of the primary. They can induce a wobble in the position, as the center of mass of the system may not be at the center of the primary, but offset a bit.
 
Planets are generally too small to change the shape of the primary.
Click to expand...

Google says you're right. I don't know where I got that idea from. I thought I saw it in a documentary once. I remember something about how massive planets deform a star's shape so that it brightens and dims as the planet makes its orbit.
 
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