
Jack Madden/Cornell University
In this artistic rendering of the Tau Boötes b system, the lines representing the invisible magnetic field are shown protecting the hot Jupiter planet from solar wind.
By monitoring the cosmos with a radio telescope array, an international team of scientists has detected radio bursts emanating from the constellation Boötes – that could be the first radio emission collected from a planet beyond our solar system.
The team, led by Cornell postdoctoral researcher Jake D. Turner, Philippe Zarka of the Observatoire de Paris – Paris Sciences et Lettres University and Jean-Mathias Griessmeier of the Université d’Orléans will publish their findings in the forthcoming research section of Astronomy & Astrophysics, on Dec. 16.
“We present one of the first hints of detecting an exoplanet in the radio realm,” Turner said. “The signal is from the Tau Boötes system, which contains a binary star and an exoplanet. We make the case for an emission by the planet itself. From the strength and polarization of the radio signal and the planet’s magnetic field, it is compatible with theoretical predictions.”
Among the co-authors is Turner’s postdoctoral advisor Ray Jayawardhana, the Harold Tanner Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and a professor of astronomy.
“If confirmed through follow-up observations,” Jayawardhana said, “this radio detection opens up a new window on exoplanets, giving us a novel way to examine alien worlds that are tens of light-years away.”
Using the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR), a radio telescope in the Netherlands, Turner and his colleagues uncovered emission bursts from a star-system hosting a so-called hot Jupiter, a gaseous giant planet that is very close to its own sun. The group also observed other potential exoplanetary radio-emission candidates in the 55 Cancri (in the constellation Cancer) and Upsilon Andromedae systems. Only the Tau Boötes exoplanet system – about 51 light-years away – exhibited a significant radio signature, a unique potential window on the planet’s magnetic field.
Observing an exoplanet’s magnetic field helps astronomers decipher a planet’s interior and atmospheric properties, as well as the physics of star-planet interactions, said Turner, a member of Cornell’s Carl Sagan Institute.
Earth’s magnetic field protects it from solar wind dangers, keeping the planet habitable. “The magnetic field of Earth-like exoplanets may contribute to their possible habitability,” Turner said, “by shielding their own atmospheres from solar wind and cosmic rays, and protecting the planet from atmospheric loss.”
Two years ago, Turner and his colleagues examined the radio emission signature of Jupiter and scaled those emissions to mimic the possible signatures from a distant Jupiter-like exoplanet. Those results became the template for searching radio emission from exoplanets 40 to 100 light-years away.
After poring over nearly 100-hours of radio observations, the researchers were able to find the expected hot Jupiter signature in Tau Boötes. “We learned from our own Jupiter what this kind of detection looks like. We went searching for it and we found it,” Turner said.
The signature, though, is weak. “There remains some uncertainty that the detected radio signal is from the planet. The need for follow-up observations is critical,” he said.
Turner and his team have already begun a campaign using multiple radio telescopes to follow up on the signal from Tau Boötes.
In addition to Turner, Jayawardhana, Griessmeier and Zarka, the co-authors are Laurent Lamy and Baptiste Cecconi of the Observatoire de Paris, France; Joseph Lazio from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory; J. Emilio Enriquez and Imke de Pater from the University of California, Berkeley; Julien N. Girard from Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa; and Jonathan D. Nichols from the University of Leicester, United Kingdom.
The Latest Updates from Bing News & Google News
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Radio emission
- New cars in California must be zero-emissions by 2035. Can the power grid handle it?
NPR's Ailsa Chang speaks with CalMatters reporter Nadia Lopez about the challenges California may face as it tries to reach its climate goal of zero-emission vehicles in the state by 2035.
- Inside A 1940’s Spy Radio
The RCA CR-88 was a radio receiver made to work in top-secret government eavesdropping stations. As you might expect, these radios are top-of-the-line, performance-wise, at least when they are ...
- Montgomery Co.’s greenhouse gas emissions decreased 30% between 2005 and 2020
Montgomery County, Maryland, announced its communitywide greenhouse gas emissions went down by 30% between 2005 and 2020, according to a Climate Action Progress report.
- It’s possible to reach net-zero carbon emissions. Here’s how
Scientists agree that only drastic action to cut emissions can keep the planet from blasting past 1.5 degrees of warming — a threshold beyond which the consequences become even more catastrophic ...
- Volcano-like rupture could have caused magnetar slowdown
Magnetars emit intense radiation, including X-rays and occasional radio waves and gamma rays. Astronomers can decipher much about the unusual stars from those emissions. By counting pulses of X ...
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Radio emission
[google_news title=”” keyword=”radio emission” num_posts=”5″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Earth-like exoplanets
- James Webb peers into icy cloud to learn about exoplanet formation
Researchers using James Webb have peered into a molecular cloud to look for these ices which could be formed into future exoplanets.
- These exoplanets have the potential to be habitable, and maybe "replace" Earth one day
Along with being in the habitable zone of their solar systems and being rocky, like Earth, having a similar atmosphere is fundamental for life as we know it. Types of planets Exoplanets are ...
- JWST Heralds a New Dawn for Exoplanet Science
“The exoplanet community is just giddy at the ... We think it probably does not have an Earth-like atmosphere. But it could have a carbon dioxide atmosphere like Venus or Mars, or it could ...
- Scientists have found a subtle way to hunt for life on exoplanets
The search for biosignatures on exoplanets got a boost of energy when the James Webb Space Telescope began observations. One of the telescope’s science objectives is to characterize exoplanet ...
- Earth's ancient past might be the road map to discovering extraterrestrial life
“We’ve outlined a strategy to search for Earth-like exoplanets, and we’re not just limiting ourselves to life as we know it today, right here and now. There are several eras in Earth’s ...
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Earth-like exoplanets
[google_news title=”” keyword=”Earth-like exoplanets” num_posts=”5″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]