Researchers from MIT have presented evidence suggesting that magnetism was a significant force during the solar system’s formation, challenging the long-held view that gravity alone drove this process. The scientists examined microscopic mineral grains from a meteorite discovered in Antarctica, analyzing magnetic signatures preserved within calcium-aluminum-rich inclusions that formed during the solar system’s first 200,000 years.
The research team, led by Benjamin Weiss at MIT along with collaborators from institutions including Tsinghua University, Cambridge University, Caltech, and UCLA, estimated that the early solar system contained a magnetic field measuring approximately 150 to 600 microteslas—substantially stronger than Earth’s present-day magnetic field. The findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The meteorite sample, known as DOM 08006, proved exceptionally valuable for this research because it has retained its original mineral composition better than other known meteorites despite its age. According to the research team, the magnetic field signatures recorded in the meteorite’s mineral grains indicate that magnetism may have helped transport primordial material inward as the young sun formed. This discovery pushes back the timeline for detecting magnetic activity in the solar system to before planetary formation had begun.
The researchers theorize that during the solar system’s earliest stages, a collapsing cloud of gas and dust generated plasma containing charged particles. As these particles circulated through the developing disk, they could have created and maintained a magnetic field. This mechanism, combined with gravitational forces, may have been instrumental in the transition from a spherical cloud to a flattened protoplanetary disk, one of the most significant events in solar system history. The work suggests that a complete understanding of planetary formation requires accounting for both gravitational and magnetic influences on the early solar system’s development.
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