Astronomers have detected radio emission directly from Beta Pictoris b, a giant exoplanet located about 63 light-years from Earth, marking the first reported direct detection of auroral radio emission from a planet beyond the Solar System. The observation was made using South Africa’s MeerKAT radio telescope array.
Researchers detected both rapidly repeating bursts and persistent radio emission across frequencies between 0.85 and 3.5 gigahertz. The pattern is linked to electron cyclotron maser instability, a process in which energetic electrons interact with a planet’s magnetic field and produce organised radio waves. Similar processes on planets such as Earth are associated with auroras.
The radio frequencies also provided a way to estimate Beta Pictoris b’s magnetic field. Based on the highest-frequency emission observed, researchers estimate that the planet has a magnetic field of at least 1.25 kilogauss, or around 1,250 gauss.
A planet’s magnetic field can influence its atmosphere and interaction with radiation and charged particles from its host star. Studying it can therefore offer clues about a planet’s interior, evolution and interaction with stellar winds.
Auroral radio emissions have been detected from planets in our Solar System and some ultracool dwarfs, but researchers had not previously been able to clearly associate such emission with an exoplanet itself rather than its host star. The finding could provide astronomers with a new method for studying magnetic environments on distant worlds.
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