Mercury's Fading Magnetic Field Fits Creation Model | The Institute for Creation Research

Mercury's Fading Magnetic Field Fits Creation Model

Planets, including the earth, generate magnetic fields that encompass the space around them. Observations have shown that, like earth's, the planet Mercury's magnetic field is rapidly breaking down, and NASA's Messenger spacecraft confirmed that again earlier this year.

If the planets in the solar system are billions of years old, why do these magnetic fields still exist?

In 1974 and 1975, the Mariner 10 spacecraft measured Mercury's magnetic field strength with its onboard magnetometer and sent the data to earth. The astronomers analyzing the data at the time found that the average magnetic moment was 4.8 x 1022 gauss cm3, which yields a field strength "about 1% that of the Earth."1

A decade later, creation physicist D. Russell Humphreys published a magnetic field model based on clues from the Bible. He reasoned that earth and the planets all shared a watery beginning, in accord with Genesis 1 and 2 Peter 3:5.2 He calculated what the magnetic field strength would have been at the creation by using a mass of aligned water molecules equal to the masses of each planet.

Then, he plotted the rate at which the magnetic fields would have diminished over the roughly 6,000 years since. Humphreys wrote, "Electrical resistance in a planet's core will decrease the electrical current causing the magnetic field, just as friction slows down a flywheel."3 The resulting model accurately predicted the magnetic field strengths of Uranus and Neptune, as well as the declining strength of Mercury's field.4

In 2008, Messenger flew past Mercury and captured a magnetic field measurement, and Humphreys compared it with the decaying slope generated by his creation model. Sure enough, Mercury's magnetic field strength had diminished since 1974, right in line with the predicted value of the creation magnetic field model.

If Mercury's magnetic field is supposed to have lasted for many millions of years, then it should be very stable over vast time periods. But as Messenger's data show, researchers can measure its decay within a person's lifetime.

Humphreys wrote, "My predicted 4% decrease in only 33 years would be very hard for evolutionary theories of planetary magnetic fields to explain, but a greater decrease would be even harder on the theories."3 He anticipated more accurate 2011 measurements, which Science published on September 30.

The Science authors wrote that the field strength for Mercury is "~27% lower in magnitude than the centered-dipole estimate implied by the polar Mariner 10 flyby."5 This confirms that Mercury's magnetic field is rapidly diminishing, which in turn confirms that the field must only be thousands of years old—just as the creation model predicts.

References

  1. Ness, N. F. 1979. The magnetic field of Mercury. Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors. 20 (2-4): 209-217.
  2. Humphreys, D. R. 1984. The Creation of Planetary Magnetic Fields. Creation Research Society Quarterly. 21 (3): 140-149.
  3. Humphreys, D. R. 2008. Mercury's magnetic field is young! Journal of Creation. 22 (3): 8-9.
  4. Humphreys, D. R. 1990. Beyond Neptune: Voyager II Supports Creation. Acts & Facts. 19 (5).
  5. Anderson, B. J. et al. 2011. The Global Magnetic Field of Mercury from MESSENGER Orbital Observations. Science. 333 (6051): 1859-1862.

Image credit: NASA

* Mr. Thomas is Science Writer at the Institute for Creation Research.

Article posted on October 26, 2011. Article updated October 30, 2011.

The Latest
NEWS
February 2025 ICR Wallpaper
"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8 NKJV) ICR's...

CREATION.LIVE PODCAST
Fascinating Dino Fossil Finds! | Creation.Live Podcast: Episode...
Dinosaurs are fascinating creatures and the fossils they've left behind inspire awe and wonder. Many scientists claim that the existence of...

NEWS
New Antarctic Ice Core: Good News for Creationists
Scientists have successfully drilled a fourth long ice core in East Antarctica.1 This new core, which reached to bedrock, has bottom ice...

CREATION PODCAST
Towers, Buttes, and Gardens of Stone - Exploring America's National...
America is home to stunning forests, mountains, monuments, and other wondrous features. The unique beauty of many of these locations has prompted...

NEWS
Oldest Dinosaurs in North America Explained by the Flood
A team of conventional paleontologists claims to have found the oldest dinosaur in North America, rivaling the oldest dinosaur remains found anywhere.1...

NEWS
Leaf and Stick Insect Variation
The phylum Arthropoda suddenly appears in the fossil record in a most un-Darwinian way.1 The largest group within the arthropods is the class...

NEWS
Snowflakes: A Symphony of Intricacy and Beauty
Snowflakes are among the most exquisite forms that nature has to offer, and no two flakes are alike. Several evolutionists have attempted to use the...

NEWS
Molecular Machines Twist Evolution
We read in the first chapter of Romans that God loves us so much that He has given us a general revelation of what He has created. Verse 19 states,...

CREATION PODCAST
America's Oldest National Park - Exploring the Unique Features...
America is home to stunning forests, mountains, monuments, and other wondrous features. The unique beauty of many of these locations have prompted...

NEWS
Binary Star Pair Detected Near Supermassive Black Hole
Astronomers have detected a likely binary star pair, designated as D9, orbiting the supermassive black hole Sag A* at the center of our Milky Way galaxy.1,2...