What causes the Earth's magnetic field?

woody156

http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/academy/space/mag_field.html says "All magnetic objects produce invisible lines of force that extend between the poles of the object. An easy way to visualize this is to spread iron filings on a sheet of paper and place a bar magnet under the paper. The iron filings will arrange themselves around the magnet and along the magnetic field lines. In the simplest terms, Earth can be thought of as a dipole (2-pole) magnet. Magnetic field lines radiate between Earth's north and south magnetic poles just as they do between the poles of a bar magnet. Charged particles become trapped on these field lines (just as the iron filings are trapped), forming the magnetosphere." Feb 10 04, 10:49 PM

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Why is the divergence of the magnetic field equal to zero? A permanent magnet has a magnetic field because of how the electrons are traveling, but how does a whole planet have a magnetic field? Do the electrons travel all the way to the atmosphere and come back? At what date is it predicted that the reversal of the Earth's magnetic field, which is taking place right now, will be complete? If the Earth is moving around the sun, and the Earth's magnetic field reverses polarity every 15,000 years or so, then how come the North Star has not appeared to move at all since people first started keeping astronomical records and calendars?

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