The use of magnets in the search for meteorite fragments has been proposed by many researchers; however, why has this approach been rejected?
Avoid using magnets to search for meteorites to prevent losing their magnetism.
According to researchers reporting in the Journal of Geophysical Research, touching a small magnet to a meteorite can erase any information that the rock may retain about its magnetic field.
Meteorites are space rocks that can contain traces of a planet’s atmosphere, as well as the building blocks of life. By studying these rocks, we can gain a better understanding of the world around us.
Bringing a handheld magnet close to a rock can rearrange the spins of the electrons within the rock. This rearrangement will overwrite the previous magnetic signature, a process known as remagnetization.
Furthermore, this process appears to occur frequently. The research team examined 9 meteorites found at different times and locations on Earth. All of them are believed to originate from the same ancient Martian body, likely shattered upon entering Earth’s atmosphere, and all have undergone remagnetization, thus losing important information that the rock was retaining.
Thus, researchers do not use magnets in the search for meteorites to prevent the loss of their magnetism and to preserve the valuable information contained within the rock.
