Beta Pictoris b’s radio bursts offer a first direct measure of an exoplanet’s magnetic field
Astronomers using South Africa’s MeerKAT array traced recurring radio bursts to Beta Pictoris b, a gas giant about 63 light-years away, rather than its host star. The team says the emissions come from auroras and indicate a magnetic field at least 200 times stronger than Jupiter’s; the study is still awaiting peer review.
Bottom line — If peer review confirms the result, Beta Pictoris b will show how radio observations can reveal magnetic fields on distant planets.
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The researchers identified the source by mapping the bursts against distant quasars and separating the planet’s signal from its star, according to the study.
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Edo Berger of Harvard said the team detected bursts multiple times and at multiple frequencies.
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NDTV Profit reports an estimated field strength of about 1,250 gauss in the radio-emitting region; Berger’s comparison is at least 200 times Jupiter’s field.
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The signal is natural auroral radio emission, not evidence of alien communication, the researchers say.
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The system is about 23 million years old, and Beta Pictoris b was discovered in 2008, according to CNN.
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The researchers have requested more telescope time to investigate the planet’s unusually strong field, CNN reports.