Magnetic fields – a scale of values on the Earth and throughout the Universe

Magnetic fields are measured in units called Teslas (T). The strength of the large U shaped magnet used in many schools is about 1 T. The following list gives you an idea of the strengths of some other magnetic fields across the Universe.

(a) magnetic field due to the human heart 0.05 nT
(b) in the Galaxy 0.5 nT
(c) in the Crab nebula 0.01 mT
(d) Earth's magnetic field 18 mT
(e) Sun 20 mT at the surface
(f) surface of Jupiter 400 mT
(g) small permanent magnet in a lab 0.1 T
(h) large permanent magnet in a lab 1 T
(i) deflecting magnets in LEP (CERN Geneva) 0.5 T
(j) MRI scanner 2 T
(k) JET fusion reactor magnetic confinement 3.45 T
(l) superconducting solenoid 20 T
(m) white dwarfs 100 - 10 000 T
(n) near a pulsar (rotating neutron star) 100 000 000 T
(o) near a magnetar (a special type of neutron star) 10 000 million T