Evidence from the Solar system suggests that, unlike Venus and Mars, the presence of a strong magnetic dipole moment on Earth has helped maintain liquid water on its surface. Therefore, planetary magnetism could have a significant effect on the long-term maintenance of atmosphere and liquid water on rocky exoplanets. We use Olson & Christensen's (2006E&PSL.250..561O) model to estimate magnetic dipole moments of rocky exoplanets with radii R_p_=<1.23R_{Earth}_. Even when modelling maximum magnetic dipole moments, only Kepler-186 f has a magnetic dipole moment larger than the Earth's, while approximately half of rocky exoplanets detected in the circumstellar habitable zone have a negligible magnetic dipole moment. This suggests that planetary magnetism is an important factor when prioritizing observations of potentially habitable planets.

Cone search capability for table J/MNRAS/485/3999/tablea1 (Rocky exoplanets (in order of decreasing dipole moment))