Early solar system magnetic fields as recorded in meteorites

A number of meteorites have now been analyzed on a particle by particle basis to assess whether the magnetizations are random or are uniform in direction. The most detailed studies have been on the Allende meteorite and on the Abee meteorite. The chondrules (clasts) have randomly oriented magnetizations which strongly suggest that they record fields that predate the accretion of the meteorites. These fields are large in intensity and range from 1–20 oersteds. Although we do not know the origin of these fields we infer that they infer pre-meteorite fields in the solar system. Several other meteorites have been studied in a similar way and in some cases they show similar results, while in others there is clear evidence of accretion or post-accretion fields.