Astronomers detect radio waves from exoplanet Beta Pictoris b, likely from auroras
First direct detection of radio emission from a planet outside the solar system reveals its magnetic field.
What to know
- Astronomers detected radio waves from exoplanet Beta Pictoris b, 63 light-years away, marking the first direct detection of radio emission from a planet outside the solar system.
- The radio waves likely originate from auroras on the gas giant, which has a magnetic field thousands of times stronger than Earth's—the first direct detection of an exoplanet's magnetic field.
- The paper was submitted to peer review on September 15 and has not yet been published; the findings are confirmed by multiple researchers including a Reddit-active astronomer who is a co-author.
This is a genuinely exciting astronomical breakthrough that advances our understanding of exoplanet magnetospheres.
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“Still not aliens, but really fucking cool if you ask me!”
Andromeda321 · Reddit ↗
“Instead, it could be the first clear evidence of an aurora on a planet outside the solar system.”
Yvette Cendes, Astronomer, lead researcher · Science News ↗
Yvette Cendes Astronomer, lead researcherBeta Pictoris b Exoplanet
How it unfolded 3 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlespostscomments
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Researcher shares news of first definitive radio detection from exoplanet
Michael W. Busch shares Yvette Cendes' announcement of the discovery on Mastodon, emphasizing it as the first definitive detection of radio emission from a planet around another star.
“we have for the first time definitively detected radio emission from a planet around another star!”
— Yvette Cendes -
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Rilevati in Sudafrica dei segnali radio che sembrano provenire da un pianeta al di fuori del Sistema Solare. Calma: non sono trasmissioni aliene ma probabili segnali dovuti alla presenza di aurore
2 more of the top 3 · 14 posts in this stretch
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📡 Astronomers have detected radio signals coming directly from an exoplanet for the first time. No, it’s #notaliens. Using the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa, researchers detected repeating radio bursts from Beta Pictoris b, a young giant planet about 63 light-years
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The auroral signal reveals a magnetic field thousands of times stronger than Earth's. # science # astronomy # exoplanets https://www. zmescience.com/space/astronome rs-detected-a-radio-signal-coming-directly-from-an-exoplanet-for-the-first-time/?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub Posted into FLIPBOARD EXCHANGE FEED 🗞️ @…
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Reddit astronomer confirms involvement in research and highlights significance
An astronomer active on Reddit who is a third author on the paper discusses the findings, noting it is still undergoing peer review. They emphasize the scientific importance of detecting radio emission from an exoplanet for the first time.
“Still not aliens, but really fucking cool if you ask me!”
— Astronomer (Reddit user) -
Astronomer here! I'm third author on this paper and am co-adviser of the PhD student who is first author! TL;DR- Still not aliens, but really fucking cool if you ask me! So, first up, this has NOT been published yet- we submitted to the journal, and are currently undergoing the peer review process. But the paper prepint was posted to the ArXiv and…
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Science News publishes findings on exoplanet radio waves and possible auroras
Science News covers the paper, explaining that the radio waves detected from Beta Pictoris b likely originate from auroras on the planet and represent the first direct detection of an exoplanet's magnetic field. The discovery clarifies that the signals are not from extraterrestrial intelligence.
“When people see 'radio signal from an exoplanet,' they think aliens. But, sorry — it's not aliens.”
— Yvette Cendes -
first by ground.news, 1d ago · also HuffPost UK, ScienceAlert, ZME Science
5 more headlines
- Space Scientists Just Found The First Ever Direct Radio Signal From An Exoplanet HuffPost UK · 1d ago
- Space Scientists Just Found The First Direct Radio Signal From An Exoplanet HuffPost UK · 1d ago
- Astronomers Detect Radio Signals Coming Directly From an Exoplanet For The First Time ScienceAlert · 1d ago
- Astronomers detect radio signals coming from an exoplanet for the first time Phys.org · 1d ago
- Astronomers Detected a Radio Signal Coming Directly From an Exoplanet for the First Time ZME Science · 1d ago
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first by Science News, 1d ago
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background
Cendes and colleagues submit paper on radio detection from exoplanet Beta Pictoris b — A team of astronomers led by Yvette Cendes submitted a paper to arXiv reporting the first clear detection of radio emission from a planet outside the solar system. The discovery comes from observations of Beta Pictoris b, a gas giant about 63 light-years away.
What people are saying 10 voices from 2 sites · best of 16 · verbatim
- Sep 22
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Discovery of radio emission from the # exoplanet β Pictoris b: https:// arxiv.org/abs/2609.16720 -> Landmark discovery could help us search for habitable worlds: https://www. skyatnightmagazine.com/news/ra dio-signals-detected-beta-pictoris-b and https://www. sciencealert.com/astronomers-d…
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RIP SETI’s Arecibo’s array . ironic that news of its destruction was lost in all the signal-to-noise of all the news stories happening at the time. it would have ruled to focus that radiotelescope that way
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Radio waves from an extrasolar star system have been localized to a planet in that system for the first time. The radio emissions are produced by charged particles interacting with the gas giant's strong magnetic field. Summary: https:// phys.org/news/2026-09-astronom ers-radio-exoplanet.html Original paper: https:// arxiv.org/abs/2609.16720 #…
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So, what does all this mean? What are the implications? Say we map 10,000 planets, what does that tell us?
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Any aliens who ever sent out a "hello" broadcast probably caught up with that shit and deleted it before it ever got anywhere when they sobered up.
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Astronomers Detect Radio Signals Coming Directly From an Exoplanet https:// flipboard.com/@sciencealert/as tronomers-detect-radio-signals-coming-directly-from-an-exoplanet-vksmecc815ppep5u?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub Posted into ScienceAlert @ sciencealert-ScienceAlert
- Sep 21
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this is all super awesome and, as usual, lovely to read! i hope you guys get your requested time, i remember the first time i learnt about magnetospheres and the rabbit hole it took me down, and the idea that we can measure anything of them in another system is wild and i wish we - as a species - would just throw more investment into the absurdly…
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Also, final note if you've read this far- Kevin actually became my student after reading my Reddit post That's really impressive. I tell people all the time in another life I would have been an astronomer but didn't have the funding or the knowledge support needed for that sort of responsibility (and if push came to shove I'm not sure I'd have the…
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Cool science. Not aliens. QT Yvette Cendes @ whereisyvette 2026 September 21 If @science.org is covering it, I guess I should share something here- we have for the first time definitively detected radio emission from a planet around another star! What does this mean? Details in thread! (But TL;DR- still not aliens) https://www…
- Sep 16
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Today on the # arXiv : Ortiz-Ceballos, Berger, and @ whereisyvette 2026, "Discovery of radio emission from the exoplanet β Pictoris b" - https:// arxiv.org/abs/2609.16720 . Beta Pic b shows up quite neatly in L- and S-band radio, with bursts that imply a kilogauss (!) magnetic field.