Direct Radio Signal Detected for the First Time from a Planet Outside the Solar System

For the first time, astronomers have detected radio signals coming directly from a planet outside the Solar System.

Researchers from the Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the University of Oregon captured short, repetitive radio waves from an exoplanet called Beta Pictoris b, about 63 light-years away from Earth.

Radio signals have previously been received from star systems hosting planets. However, it was not clear whether these signals came from the star or the planets around it.

IT COMES FROM THE POLAR LIGHTS, NOT FROM ALIENS

The researchers particularly emphasized that the signals were not sent by an extraterrestrial civilization.

The radio waves are thought to originate from the auroras of Beta Pictoris b. Similar to the northern and southern lights on Earth, this phenomenon occurs when charged particles interact with the planet's atmosphere and magnetic field.

Scientists observed the system at four different times in 2025 and 2026 with the MeerKAT radio telescope array in South Africa. During these observations, fast, repetitive and strongly circularly polarized radio bursts were detected.

It was stated that these features are characteristic signs of radio emissions associated with the polar lights.

IT HAS BEEN DETERMINED WHICH PLANET THE SIGNAL COMES FROM

There are three known planets around the star Beta Pictoris: Beta Pictoris b, c and d.

The researchers determined the location of the signal using quasars, which are distant and extremely bright galaxy nuclei, as reference points. The findings revealed that the radio waves were coming from Beta Pictoris b, not the star itself.

The researchers also stated that there is no known physical mechanism that could explain why a star with the structure of Beta Pictoris could produce the observed radio signal.

Its MAGNETIC FIELD IS THOUSANDS TIMES THOUSANDS OF THE EARTH'S

Discovered in 2008, Beta Pictoris b is a young giant planet with a mass approximately 10 times that of Jupiter.

Studying radio signals also allowed scientists to directly measure the planet's magnetic field. According to the research, Beta Pictoris b's magnetic field may be thousands of times stronger than Earth's.

It is thought that the fact that the planet completes its rotation around its own axis in only 8-9 hours may also play a role in the formation of strong polar lights.

This is the first direct measurement of the magnetic field strength of an exoplanet, the researchers said.

THERE ARE OTHER PLANETS NEXT

The team now aims to study seven giant exoplanets in five nearby star systems with similar methods.

It is stated that new generation radio observatories can reach 5 to 7 times higher sensitivity than existing systems, making it possible to detect radio signals from these planets.