Astronomers detect radio signal from exoplanet Beta Pictoris b
Astronomers using South Africa's MeerKAT telescope have detected radio signals from the exoplanet Beta Pictoris b, located 63 light-years away. This discovery marks the first time a magnetic field has been directly measured on a planet outside our solar system.
Why it matters
This breakthrough provides critical data for understanding planetary formation and the conditions necessary for habitability in distant star systems.
ASTRONOMERS have detected radio signals directly from an exoplanet for the first time, using South Africa’s MeerKAT radio telescope to identify auroral radio bursts from the giant planet Beta Pictoris b, located about 63 light-years from Earth.
The discovery provides the first direct measurement of a magnetic field on a planet outside our Solar System, with scientists estimating that Beta Pictoris b has a magnetic field of at least 1.25 kilogauss, several thousand times stronger than Earth’s.
Beta Pictoris b is a gas giant with a mass estimated at between nine and 13 times that of Jupiter. It was first discovered in 2008 by astronomers using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope.
PICTURED: The MeerKAT radio telescope array in South Africa’s Northern Cape. Photo: MeerKAT
PICTURED: Short, repeated radio bursts detected from planet Beta Pictoris b. Credit: Ceballos et al., arXiv, 2026.
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