From Futurism · Victor Tangermann · · 1m 30s
Harvard team detects radio signal from distant exoplanet
Scientists used a South African telescope to pick up natural radio emissions from a gas giant 64 light-years away, revealing its magnetic field for the first time.
In brief
Scientists used a South African telescope to pick up natural radio emissions from a gas giant 64 light-years away, revealing its magnetic field for the first time. We can now detect and measure radio signals directly from exoplanets, opening a new way to study their magnetic fields and properties from Earth…
Over 6,300 exoplanets confirmed
Astronomers have identified thousands of planets orbiting distant stars, ranging from small rocky worlds to massive gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn.
The challenge of distant signals
Spotting radio emissions from exoplanets has been nearly impossible because their host stars are far brighter, drowning out the weaker planetary signals across vast distances.
First direct radio detection achieved
Harvard and University of Oregon researchers detected radio signals directly from beta Pictoris b, a gas giant 64 light-years away, using the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa.
“We detect rapid, recurring, and highly circularly polarized bursts, as well as persistent emission, at frequencies of 0.85 to 3.5 GHz.”
Beta Pictoris b: a massive world
The exoplanet is a gas giant with over 11 times Jupiter's mass, discovered in 2008, and takes more than 23 Earth years to complete one orbit around its host star.
Natural auroras, not alien signals
The radio emissions come from the planet's auroras, charged particles moving along its magnetic field, similar to Earth's northern and southern lights, not from any extraterrestrial civilization.
Magnetic field 300 times stronger
By isolating the exoplanet's signal using quasars as reference points, researchers determined beta Pictoris b has a magnetic field over 300 times stronger than Jupiter's, the first direct measurement of an exoplanet's magnetic strength.
The essence
We can now detect and measure radio signals directly from exoplanets, opening a new way to study their magnetic fields and properties from Earth.
