CNN·3 min read·medium

Astronomers pick up first-ever radio signal from an exoplanet — but it’s not aliens - CNN

J
Jacopo Prisco
Astronomers pick up first-ever radio signal from an exoplanet — but it’s not aliens - CNN
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Astronomers have detected the first radio signal from an exoplanet, Beta Pictoris b, which is 63 light-years away. The signal is caused by a powerful magnetic field and auroras rather than extraterrestrial intelligence.

Why it matters

This discovery provides new insights into the magnetic environments of gas giants outside our solar system and how they protect their atmospheres.

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Astronomers say they have directly detected the first-ever radio emission from a planet outside the solar system. The signal, however, is evidence of a colossal magnetic field — not intelligent life. “I know radio signals are associated with searches for extraterrestrial intelligence,” said Edo Berger, a professor of astronomy at Harvard University. “But this is something very different.” The discovery, described in a new paper awaiting publication in a peer-reviewed journal, traces repeating radio bursts that appear to come from the exoplanet Beta Pictoris b, located 63 light-years from Earth — a short distance, astronomically speaking. The gas giant, about 12 times the mass of Jupiter, is one of three planets orbiting a young star that is 1.75 times as massive as the sun.

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