Meerkat Radio Telescope

Astronomers detect radio signal directly from exoplanet beta Pictoris b

A team from Harvard and the University of Oregon report detecting radio emissions directly traced to beta Pictoris b, a gas giant roughly 11 times Jupiter's mass located 64 light-years away, using South Africa's MeerKAT radio telescope. In their yet-to-be-peer-reviewed paper, they describe rapid, recurring, highly circularly polarized bursts and persistent emission between 0.85 and 3.5 GHz, which they attribute to naturally occurring auroras from charged particles along the planet's magnetic field.

futurism.com · 2026-09-26

Harvard, Oregon researchers detect radio waves from exoplanet Beta Pictoris b

A preprint study by researchers at Harvard University and the University of Oregon reports the first clear detection of radio emissions from a planet outside our solar system. The signal, picked up by South Africa's MeerKAT radio telescope, comes from Beta Pictoris b, a young gas giant several times the mass of Jupiter orbiting a star 63 light-years away. The findings have not yet been peer-reviewed.

wired.com · 2026-09-24