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Magnetism can be generated in more than one way.

In a solid object if all the atoms have most of their poles lined up in the same direction the object has a magnetic field. It's how most everyday magnets work.

An electrical charge in a loop can generate a magnetic field. Large electric motors use this route. They use a coil of conductive metal, but the principal still works in any charged medium.

With stars the medium is shifting loops of plasma. Plasma is just a gas with the electrons stripped out because of intense heat and or electromagnetic radiation. The loops are an effect of the stars rotation.

2007-02-10 04:18:58 · answer #1 · answered by corvis_9 5 · 0 0

I don't know how they measure a star's magnetic field, but heat doesn't rule out the presence of magnetism. Any flow of electricity moving through space creates a magnetic field, and that includes the flow of electricity through plasma, or inside a star whatever it's made of. Don't confuse this with the Curie point, where a metal loses it's magnetic properties. The metal is still capable of conducting electricity, and if there is a current flowing through it, there is a magnetic field whether or not the metal itself is magnetic or not. After all, copper isn't magnetic. But wound into a coil and conducting electricity, it makes very powerful magnets.

2007-02-09 20:38:00 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2 0

Magnetic fields are detected by their influence on charged particles (ions, electrons, protons) in the vicinity of a star.
Magnetic fields also influences the polarization of light from the star as well as the frequencies of high-energy radiation (X-rays, gamma rays) from the star or passing by the star - all of these are detectable with different telescopes.

2007-02-09 23:02:43 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

If the light coming from the star is polarized, the star must have a magnetic field. Nearly all stars do.

2007-02-09 21:53:22 · answer #4 · answered by Keith P 7 · 0 0

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