Astrophysicists have for the first time detected a radio signal coming from a planet beyond our solar system — the source lies 64 light-years from Earth, infohub.kz reports.
The discovery was made by a team of American scientists using the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa. The signal consists of repeating radio bursts that have been linked to the exoplanet Beta Pictoris b.
The planet is a young gas giant about 12 times more massive than Jupiter. It orbits the star Beta Pictoris and lies roughly 64 light-years from Earth. One light-year is nearly 9.5 trillion kilometers, so the signal took decades to reach us.
Contrary to what some might assume, this is not a message from an alien civilization. According to the researchers, the radio bursts are produced by auroras: particles on the planet travel along its magnetic field lines and collide with gas in the atmosphere. This generates radio waves similar to those accompanying auroras on planets in our solar system.
It was this signal that allowed scientists to directly estimate the exoplanet's magnetic field for the first time. It is at least 1,250 gauss — about 290 times stronger than Jupiter's magnetic field and roughly 2,500 times stronger than Earth's.
Earlier, Kursiv LifeStyle reported that the German startup Isar Aerospace successfully launched its Spectrum rocket. The launch took place from the Andøya spaceport in Norway. It was the rocket's second test flight.