Astronomers detect first radio emission from an exoplanet

Astronomers have detected what they say is the first radio emission directly traced to a planet beyond the solar system, revealing an exceptionally powerful magnetic field around the gas giant Beta Pictoris b.

The discovery, reported in a paper posted on the preprint platform arXiv, comes from observations made with MeerKAT, a network of 64 radio dishes in South Africa. Researchers detected repeating radio bursts from Beta Pictoris b, about 63 light-years from Earth.

The signal is not evidence of intelligent life. Instead, scientists say it is an auroral radio emission generated by charged particles interacting with the planet’s magnetic field, in a process similar to the radio emissions and auroras produced by Jupiter.

Beta Pictoris b is about 12 times as massive as Jupiter and orbits a young star in a planetary system roughly 23 million years old. Researchers estimate that its magnetic field is at least 200 times stronger than Jupiter’s.

Such a powerful magnetic field could provide important clues about the planet’s interior and atmosphere and how giant planets interact with their surrounding space environment.

Previous studies had reported possible radio signals from exoplanets, but scientists could not rule out the possibility that the emissions came from the host stars. In this case, researchers said they were able to pinpoint the source to Beta Pictoris b itself.

The findings have not yet undergone peer review, and independent scientists have urged caution. Further observations are planned to confirm the detection and investigate why the planet’s magnetic field appears so unusually strong.