A research team led by Kevin Ortiz Ceballos of the Harvard and Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics reports in a preprint that South Africa’s MeerKAT array has detected radio emission unambiguously localized to the gas-giant exoplanet Beta Pictoris b, about 64 light-years from Earth, Live Science (opens in new tab) and The Independent (opens in new tab) reported Wednesday.
The authors write that no prior radio detection had been unambiguously tied to an extrasolar planet rather than its host star. Live Science (opens in new tab) said the group compared radio images of the planet and star with background quasars used as fixed references to place the bursts on the planet. The Independent (opens in new tab) said the system was observed multiple times in 2025 and 2026, with short, rapidly fading bursts each time.
Both outlets described the emission as consistent with planetary aurorae rather than artificial technosignatures. The team estimates a local magnetic field of roughly 1,250 gauss (about 1.25 kilogauss), far stronger than Earth’s roughly 0.5 gauss surface field, and calls it the first such direct field-strength measurement for an exoplanet. Live Science (opens in new tab) quoted Oxford astrophysicist Suzanne Aigrain, who was not on the paper, calling it the first truly convincing direct detection while emphasizing it is “definitely not aliens.”
The Independent (opens in new tab) noted the study has not been peer-reviewed and quoted University of Amsterdam astronomer Joe Callingham saying the result would be exciting if it holds up in review. Live Science (opens in new tab) said Beta Pictoris b is a massive gas giant on the order of roughly 10 times Jupiter’s mass per NASA figures cited there. Until peer review completes, The Event Record treats priority and field-strength claims as the authors’ preprint assertions corroborated only by secondary science reporting.