Planetary core
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the Earth's core, see Inner core and Structure of the Earth #Core.
The planetary core consists of the innermost layer(s) of a planet.
The cores of terrestrial planets tend to be mainly composed of iron and can include a solid and/or a liquid layer. Earth's core is partially liquid, whilst the cores of Mars and Venus are thought to be completely molten, due to their lack of an internally generated magnetic field.[1] In our solar system, core size can range from about 20% (the Moon) to 75% of a planet's radius (Mercury).
[edit] References
- ^ Luhmann, J. G.; Russell, C. T. (1997). "Mars: Magnetic Field and Magnetosphere". Encyclopedia of Planetary Sciences: 454-6.
