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Beta Pictoris b radio signal detection

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2026-09-27 04:43 UTC → 2026-09-30 20:27 UTC · added ~~removed~~

Astronomers have achieved a breakthrough by detecting and localizing radio signals originating directly from the exoplanet Beta Pictoris b. Using the MeerKAT radio telescope array in South Africa, an international research team led by Kevin Ortiz Ceballos from the Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, in collaboration with the University of Oregon, observed the gas giant, located approximately 63 to 64 light-years from Earth, during several sessions between February 2025 and May 2026. The detected signals consist of brief, repetitive, and highly circularly polarized radio bursts. Researchers have confirmed these are not signs of extraterrestrial intelligence but are natural emissions caused by massive auroras, likely driven by the electron cyclotron maser instability (ECMI), where charged particles interact with the planet’s magnetic field. To distinguish the planetary signals from those of the host star, the team compared signal positions with nine distant quasars used as fixed reference points, achieving a statistical certainty of more than 99.999 percent that the signals originated from the planet. This discovery allowed for the first direct measurement of an exoplanet’s magnetic field strength, estimated to be at least 1250 Gauss. This field is approximately 2,500 times stronger than Earth’s and 90 times stronger than Jupiter’s. Beta Pictoris b is a gas giant with a mass estimated to be between 10 and 12 times that of Jupiter and a rapid rotation period of eight to nine hours. By late September 2026, researchers reaffirmed the detection of these repetitive and persistent emissions from Beta Pictoris b, noting they are linked to the planet’s powerful magnetic field and auroras.

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