<p>They might mean a couple of things, hard to know exactly without context:</p>
<p>The origin of the majority of Earth's magnetic field is in the fluid outer core, while the solid inner core (the centre) is likely relatively very weakly magnetic or non-magnetic, due to the temperature and pressure there.</p>
<p>Alternatively, as the magnetic field generated in Earth's outer core is not symmetric or exactly aligned with the rotation axis of the Earth, you can define the poles of the magnetic field as describing an axis that doesn't pass through the centre of the Earth (for a particular definition of &quot;magnetic poles&quot;, and a particular definition of &quot;centre of the Earth&quot;).</p>
<p>Either way, we actually know very little about the magnetic field inside the outer and inner cores for certain. Our observations at Earth's surface give direct information about the field as far down as the outer surface of the outer core, and only let us infer properties inside these regions indirectly.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-07-11T22:12:17.803Z
related in Space SE https://space.stackexchange.com/a/34696/12102
uhoh
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-07-04T10:42:10.307Z
2024-07-04T10:42:10.307Z
WJB
<p>I once heard someone in my science club say that the magnetic field doesn't go through the center of the Earth. I then searched, but I don't think anything I wanted was found.
Does anyone know why?</p>

<geomagnetism>
Why doesn't the Earth's magnetic field go through its center
知識日常 Know Scratcher
# Why doesn't the Earth's magnetic field go through its center

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-07-04)

I once heard someone in my science club say that the magnetic field doesn't go through the center of the Earth. I then searched, but I don't think anything I wanted was found.
Does anyone know why?

**Tags:** geomagnetism


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2024-07-04. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

They might mean a couple of things, hard to know exactly without context:

The origin of the majority of Earth's magnetic field is in the fluid outer core, while the solid inner core (the centre) is likely relatively very weakly magnetic or non-magnetic, due to the temperature and pressure there.

Alternatively, as the magnetic field generated in Earth's outer core is not symmetric or exactly aligned with the rotation axis of the Earth, you can define the poles of the magnetic field as describing an axis that doesn't pass through the centre of the Earth (for a particular definition of "magnetic poles", and a particular definition of "centre of the Earth").

Either way, we actually know very little about the magnetic field inside the outer and inner cores for certain. Our observations at Earth's surface give direct information about the field as far down as the outer surface of the outer core, and only let us infer properties inside these regions indirectly.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: related in Space SE https://space.stackexchange.com/a/34696/12102  

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