ScienceBBC Sky at Night MagazineRadio signals detected from a planet beyond our Solar System. Landmark discovery could help us search for habitable worlds
Scientists have for the first time detected radio signals coming directly from a planet outside our Solar System, a landmark find that could help identify worlds capable of supporting life.
Radio signals have been detected coming from a planet beyond our Solar System, giving astronomers insight into exoplanets' magnetic fields.
An international team of astronomers used South Africa's MeerKAT telescope to detect radio signals coming directly from Beta Pictoris b, a gas giant about 63 lightyears away.
It is the first time a radio signal has been confirmed as coming from a single planet rather than its host star, made possible because Beta Pictoris is magnetically quiet.
Researchers say the discovery could help them learn whether distant planets have protective magnetic fields, which scientists say are important for shielding emerging life from stellar radiation.
The study found detecting a planet's magnetic field via radio waves could reveal whether it has the protection needed to support life, a key step in the search for habitable worlds.
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