Astronomers Trace Radio Emissions to Exoplanet Beta Pictoris b

Astronomers say they have traced radio emissions directly to an exoplanet for the first time, identifying the young gas giant Beta Pictoris b as their likely source.

The planet is part of the Beta Pictoris system, about 63 light-years from Earth. Several times more massive than Jupiter and only tens of millions of years old, Beta Pictoris b orbits at a distance from its star comparable to the gap between Saturn and the sun.

Researchers from Harvard and the University of Oregon detected the signals with South Africa’s MeerKAT radio telescope. According to their preprint, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, the radio waves are consistent with auroral emissions caused by intense magnetic activity rather than artificial transmissions.

The proposed mechanism resembles processes that produce auroras on planets in the solar system: charged particles become trapped and accelerated in a planet’s magnetic field, releasing radio waves as the planet rotates. The researchers said the emissions’ characteristics match theoretical predictions for magnetic fields around young, massive planets.

Earlier observations had found possible planet-linked radio bursts in systems including YZ Ceti, but stellar magnetic activity could not be ruled out as the source. The new team says its observations pinpoint the emissions to Beta Pictoris b itself.