Scientists have collected the first radio signal from a planet outside our solar system
Washington:
An international team of scientists has collected the first radio signal from a planet outside our solar system, coming out of an exoplanet system about 51 light-years away.
Using the low frequency Arra (LOFAR), a radio telescope in the Netherlands, the researchers found explosions of emissions from the Tau Bootes star system hosting a hot Jupiter, a gaseous giant planet very close to the sun itself.
The team led by researchers from Cornell University in the US was also monitoring potential exoplanetary radio release candidates in constellation and Upsilon Andromedae cancer systems.
However, the study published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics found that only the Tau Bootes exoplanet system featured an important radio signature, a window that could be unique to the planet’s magnetic field.
“We will be presenting one of the first recommendations for the discovery of an exoplanet in the field of radio,” said Jake D. Turner, a Cornell postgraduate researcher.
“The signal is from the Tau Bootes system, which contains a binary and exoplanet star system. We make the case for propagation by the planet itself,” he said.
If confirmed by continuous observation, the researchers said, this radio discovery opens a new window on exoplanets and provides a modern way to explore an alien world tens of light-years away. .
Observing an exoplanet magnetic field helps astronauts determine the interior and atmospheric properties of a planet, as well as the physics of star-planet interactions, Turner said.
The Earth’s magnetic field protects it from the dangers of solar wind, keeping the planet inhabited.
“The magnetic field of Earth-like exoplanets may enhance their habitual habit by protecting the atmosphere from solar wind and cosmic rays, and protecting the planet from air loss,” he said. Mgr Turner.
Two years ago, Turner and his colleagues examined the signatures of Jupiter’s radio broadcasts and scaled these releases to mimic the possible names of a distant exoplanet similar to Jupiter.
These results became a template for detecting radio emissions from exoplanets 40 to 100 light-years away.
(Except for the headline, this story was not edited by NDTV staff and is published from syndicated food.)