South Africa's MeerKAT radio telescope has detected repeated bursts of radio signals coming from the Beta Pictoris planetary system and have traced it to a strong magnetic field surrounding the giant planet. Researchers say that these are the first auroral radio emissions in history to ever be detected from an exoplanet.
The significance of the discovery, which the researchers published two weeks ago, means that researchers have found a way to measure the magnetic field of a young planet which, until now, was only theoretical.
