Earth's core is as hot as the Sun's surface

New studies in to the temperature at the Earth's core have revealed it to be much hotter than thought.

To find out how hot the Earth's core is, scientists conducted experiments in which they used x-rays to examine small samples of iron exposed to extremely high pressures so that they could observe how the iron crystals formed and melted. To achieve these pressures they used a device called a "diamond anvil cell" which holds the sample between two synthetic diamonds.

The results indicated that the temperature at the Earth's core is likely to be around 6,000 degrees Celsius, more than 1,000 degrees higher than previous calculations. At this temperature the core is not only hotter but represents a figure comparable to that of the surface of the Sun.

New measurements suggest the Earth's inner core is far hotter than prior experiments suggested, putting it at 6,000C - as hot as the Sun's surface. The solid iron core is actually crystalline, surrounded by liquid.