On 4/12/2024 at 7:20 PM, Moontanman said:

Now that is a significant difference! If it were accurate, 

https://www.britannica.com/place/Saturn-planet/The-magnetic-field-and-magnetosphere

 

This is from your source:

"Jupiter’s equatorial field, at 4.3 gauss, is more than 20 times stronger than Saturn’s. If one represents Saturn’s magnetic field as produced by a simple current loop with a specified magnetic moment, then that magnetic moment is about 600 times Earth’s, whereas Jupiter’s magnetic moment is 20,000 times Earth’s."

Can anyone explain what a "magnetic moment" is?

There is an inconsistency.  Your article says Jupiter's field is more than 20 times stronger than Saturn's, but it also says that Saturn's is 600 times Earth's, whereas Jupiter's is 20,000 times Earth's.  20,000/600 = 33 times stronger at Jupiter than at Saturn.  So I suppose 33 is more than 20 times?  What is more accurate?

 

Edited April 14, 20241 yr by Airbrush

7 minutes ago, Airbrush said:

This is from your source:

"Jupiter’s equatorial field, at 4.3 gauss, is more than 20 times stronger than Saturn’s. If one represents Saturn’s magnetic field as produced by a simple current loop with a specified magnetic moment, then that magnetic moment is about 600 times Earth’s, whereas Jupiter’s magnetic moment is 20,000 times Earth’s."

Can anyone explain what a "magnetic moment" is?

There is an inconsistency.  Your article says Jupiter's field is more than 20 times stronger than Saturn's, but it also says that Saturn's is 600 times Earth's, whereas Jupiter's is 20,000 times Earth's.  20,000/600 = 33 times stronger at Jupiter than at Saturn.  So I suppose 33 is more than 20 times?  What is more accurate?

 

You got me on that, I simply googled the strengths of Jupiter vs Saturn magnetic fields. 

 

Edited April 14, 20241 yr by Moontanman

1 hour ago, Airbrush said:

Can anyone explain what a "magnetic moment" is?

It describes a magnet in terms of the torque the magnet would feel in an external field

A magnetic dipole (e.g. a bar magnet) with moment u in a magnetic field (B) feels a torque of u X B (u is a vector)

The magnetic moment of a wire loop with area A and current I is u = IA (with a direction given by the right-hand rule)