Planetary Magnetic Field Measurements: Missions and Instrumentation

Abstract

The nature and diversity of the magnetic properties of the planets have been investigated by a large number of space missions over the past 50 years. It is clear that without the magnetic field measurements that have been carried out in the vicinity of all the planets, the state of their interior and their evolution since their formation would not be understood even though questions remain about how the different planetary dynamos (in six of the eight planets) work. This paper describes the motivation for making magnetic field measurements, the instrumentation that has been used and many of the missions that carried out the pioneering observations. Emphasis is given to the historically important early missions even if the results from these have been in some cases bettered by later missions.