Radio Waves From Another World: Scientists Trace First-Ever Signal to Exoplanet 63 Light-Years Away
Astronomers have detected the first-ever radio emission from an exoplanet, Beta Pictoris b, 63 light-years away. The signal points to a magnetic field at least 200 times stronger than Jupiter's.
Astronomers say they have directly detected the first radio emission from a planet outside the solar system, tracing repeating radio bursts to the gas giant Beta Pictoris b, which sits 63 light-years from Earth. The signal is not a sign of alien technology but evidence of an extremely powerful magnetic field driving auroras, similar to Earth's northern lights. The finding comes from a paper posted on September 15 to the preprint platform ArXiv, and it is still awaiting peer review.
Edo Berger, a Harvard astronomy professor and coauthor, acknowledged that radio signals are usually linked to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. 'But this is something very different,' he said.
How Strong Is The Magnetic Field?
According to Berger, the magnetic field on Beta Pictoris b is at least 200 times stronger than Jupiter's. He explained that picking up radio waves at the frequencies the team recorded requires an incredibly strong field. The planet is about 12 times the mass of Jupiter and is one of three planets orbiting a young star that is 1.75 times as massive as the sun. Indian and Canadian Scientists Use CHIME Telescope To Make 1st Standalone Detection of Hydrogen Glow From Early Universe.
The emission is known as auroral radio emission. It has earlier been seen from Jupiter, Saturn, the sun, stars beyond the solar system and brown dwarfs. In Jupiter's case, charged particles spewed by volcanoes on its moon Io get trapped around the poles of its field, producing auroras and radio waves as they spiral.
Why Is This Detection Different?
Earlier hints of radio emissions from exoplanets were never confirmed, mainly because the host star could not be ruled out as the source. Joseph Callingham of the University of Amsterdam, who was not part of the study, noted that this team localised the emission to the planet itself, separate from the star.
The team used MeerKAT, an array of 64 radio telescope dishes in South Africa. Berger said the result was a surprise, as the survey was a bit of a fishing expedition and the system is among the most studied in the galaxy. Lead author Kevin Ortiz Ceballos, a doctoral researcher at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, brought the detection to him. UFO Caught on Video? 'Mystery' Object Appears on SpaceX Starship Livestream, Grok Dismisses Alien Theories.
Astronomers had assumed exoplanet magnetic fields would resemble Jupiter's, which would mean emissions at lower frequencies than those found here. Berger said the team recorded the signal multiple times and at multiple frequencies, and that it appeared every time.
Experts Urge Caution
Researchers not involved in the work advised caution until peer review is complete, which is expected over the next few months. Jonathan Nichols of the University of Leicester said that if it holds up, it would be a key step in understanding worlds beyond our solar system, as auroral emissions reveal how an object interacts with its space environment.
Callingham added that confirmation would show exoplanets can have much stronger magnetic fields than expected. The authors have requested more telescope time to study why the field is so strong.
About The Beta Pictoris System
The system is about 23 million years old, against 4.5 billion years for our solar system. Beta Pictoris b was discovered in 2008, followed by Beta Pictoris c in 2019 and Beta Pictoris d in 2026. The star also hosts 30 orbiting comets and a giant disk of dust and debris, which NASA's Hubble Space Telescope photographed in detail in 2015.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 03, 2026 07:19 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
