New Delhi, October 03, 2026

Astronomers have reported what researchers describe as the first direct detection of radio emissions from a single planet beyond the Solar System. The finding, reported in a new study that has not yet undergone peer review, could give scientists a new way to investigate the magnetic environments of distant planets.

The radio signal was traced to Beta Pictoris b, a young and massive gas-giant exoplanet located about 63 light-years from Earth in the constellation Pictor. The planet is estimated to have a mass between nine and 13 times that of Jupiter and is part of the young Beta Pictoris planetary system. Researchers led by Kevin N. Ortiz Ceballos of the Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian detected repeated radio bursts using South Africa's MeerKAT radio telescope array, with researchers from the University of Oregon also involved in the study.

The team determined that the bursts came from Beta Pictoris b rather than its host star by analysing their position and radio characteristics. The relatively magnetically quiet nature of Beta Pictoris helped researchers isolate the planetary emissions, while distant quasars were used as reference points to map the source. Scientists believe the bursts are natural auroral emissions created when high-energy particles interact with gases around the planet's magnetic poles, a process also associated with radio emissions from auroras on Jupiter and Earth.

The observations also allowed researchers to estimate the strength of Beta Pictoris b's magnetic field. The study inferred a field of approximately 1,250 gauss in the radio-emitting region. For comparison, Jupiter's equatorial magnetic field is around 4.3 gauss, while Earth's is approximately 0.5 gauss. However, the figures represent different regions of the respective planetary magnetic fields.

The discovery does not point to extraterrestrial life or an artificial communication signal. Instead, the radio emissions offer astronomers a new tool for studying exoplanetary magnetic fields and understanding how distant worlds interact with stellar winds and cosmic radiation. Researchers hope similar observations of other giant exoplanets will reveal more about planetary evolution, atmospheric conditions and the environments of distant worlds.