3
$\begingroup$

So hypothetically if we could kick-start the core of the planet Mars and "turn on" its magnetic field (by say inducing an asteroid moon-ring for lack of a better description) thus shielding its atmosphere from the Sun and begin "terraforming it. My question is would the magnetic field speed up the rotation of Mars and would that pull Mars in a bit closer inside the habitable zone of its orbit around our Sun thus warming the planet even more and increasing the terraforming process? Would this become a danger to our own world?

$\endgroup$
4
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ Why do you think it might pull mars closer to the sun? $\endgroup$
    – Hennes
    Commented Jan 28, 2017 at 13:30
  • 8
    $\begingroup$ What? No. Anyway don't worry about the magnetic field. If you somehow have the ability to terraform in any reasonable amount of time, e.g. in less than a million years, then you are already able to counter the rate of the loss of the atmosphere to space by many orders of magnitude. $\endgroup$
    – Mark Adler
    Commented Jan 28, 2017 at 15:22
  • $\begingroup$ @MarkAdler I think Bill Nye was mentioning that the atmospheric loss (over millions of years) was an argument against terraforming Mars. I'm not sure if he's a conservationist over that eon-timescale but that sounds like a pointlessly far-sighted view of things. $\endgroup$
    – Nick T
    Commented Jul 6, 2017 at 19:35
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Where did Bill Nye say that? $\endgroup$
    – Mark Adler
    Commented Jul 7, 2017 at 2:04

1 Answer 1

1
$\begingroup$

No, no and no. Though you will get a stronger magnetic field with increased rotation, if you increased the magnetic field through other means it would not increase the rotation rate. An active magnetic field would have no effect on the orbit of Mars, in fact you could say the larger magnetic field would create a slightly great 'push' from the solar wind on Mars. But as that effect is extremely small in comparison to the planets mass and orbit, it would not likely even be measureable. It definitely not would pose a danger to Earth.

Also this question has been asked before within the stack exchange so browsing some of those should help you as well.

$\endgroup$

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.