🚨For the first time, astronomers have traced radio signals directly to a planet beyond our Solar System. The source is Beta Pictoris b, a young gas giant roughly 64 light-years away and around 10–12 times the mass of Jupiter.
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🔭 Using South Africa’s MeerKAT radio telescope, researchers detected repeating radio bursts between 0.85 and 3.5 gigahertz. By comparing the signals with precise measurements of the planet’s position, its host star, and distant quasars, they determined that the emission came from the planet itself—not its star.
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⚡ The signals are strongly circularly polarized, pointing to auroral radio emissions generated by charged particles interacting with the planet’s magnetic field. This process, known as electron cyclotron maser instability, also produces radio emissions from planets such as Jupiter.
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🧲 The highest detected radio frequency suggests a magnetic field of at least 1,250 gauss at the emission region. This marks the first direct measurement of a magnetic field on an exoplanet, offering a new way to investigate the invisible magnetic environments of distant worlds.
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🪐 Beta Pictoris b also rotates remarkably quickly, completing a spin in roughly 8–9 hours. Its rapid rotation may contribute to its powerful magnetic field, although the exact processes responsible are still being studied.
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Research: Ortiz Ceballos et al., arXiv (2026).