British scientists discovered a way to unravel messages in the magnetic field of ancient meteorites using tiny "space magnets".

Using a giant synchrotron or X-ray microscope, the team was able to read signals formed more than four-and-a-half billion years ago, soon after the birth of the solar system. The meteorites are pieces of a parent asteroid that originally came from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

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They represent the left-over fragments of a planet that failed to form. The magnetic recording traps a signal of the precise moments when an iron-rich core formed in the asteroid and when it froze, killing its magnetic field.

Dr. Richard Harrison, lead researcher of the study and lecturer in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Cambridge, said one of the few ways they could peek inside a planet was by observing magnetic fields.

Researchers said the readings presented them with a glimpse of how the magnetic core of the Earth will behave because of continuous freezing. They believed this is essential as the core affects the Earth's magnetic field. The magnetic field of the Earth has weakened by 15 percent over a span of 200 years.

The weakening of the magnetic field is making the Earth more vulnerable to solar winds that have the power to punch holes into the ozone layer. This could knock-out power grids, change the climate and could eventually lead to the demise of the Earth.

Harrison also noted it has been assumed for a long time that meteorites had poor magnetic memories because they were primarily made of iron. It was thought the magnetic signals in meteorites would have to be written and then rewritten several times because no one made a detailed study of these magnetic properties.

The research was published in the journal, Nature.

TagsAncient Meteorites, meteorites, Magnetic Fields, X-ray microscope, synchrotron, solar system, space exploration