Scientists have discovered that Mercury had a much stronger magnetic field nearly 4 billion years ago, after studying rocks on the surface of Mercury from the data of NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft.

Catherine Johnson, scientist at the Planetary Science Institute and the lead author of the study published in the journal Science titled, "Low-Altitude Magnetic Field Measurements by MESSENGER Reveal Mercury's Ancient Crustal Field," said that from MESSENGER spacecraft and Mariner 10 observations, they already knew that Mercury had a global magnetic field today and 40 years ago, according to a report by Astronomy Now.

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The research findings concluded that about 4 billion years ago, the magnetic field of Mercury could have been much stronger than the present.

Johnson said that magnetized rocks recorded the history of the magnetic field of a planet, a key ingredient in understanding its evolution, Astronomy Now reported. "We already know that around 3.7 to 3.9 billion year ago Mercury was volcanically and technically active. We now know that it had a magnetic field at around that time," Johnson said.

The study's lead author also said that the ancient magnetic field discovery on planet Mercury has answers about our own planet and its composition of rocks and the volcanic activity of the past. Johnson said that our planet also had a liquid outer core that powers the magnetic field of Earth, roughly 100 times stronger than the planet Mercury, Los Angeles Times reported.

It can be noted that in April 30, NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft had smashed into Mercury after the spacecraft had run out of fuel. Nevertheless, the spacecraft still found new information and data on the planet. The data had been used to the recent study published by the journal.

The first spacecraft to orbit the Mercury in 2011 provided data from its four year of orbit before it crashed out on Mercury. The last reserves of the NASA spacecraft were used to move downward to extremely low altitudes to be able to study Mercury's surface.

TagsNASA Spacecraft, Messenger spacecraft, Mercury, Mercury's magnetic field, Magnetic Field, mysteries, space exploration