With the help of a radio telescope, researchers have recorded for the first time a radio signal from an exoplanet orbiting a star in the constellation Boötes.
This is the first time a radio wave has been caught from an exoplanet. However, extraterrestrial life has nothing to do with it – radiation generates the magnetic field of a gas giant located just 50 light years from Earth.
Using the LOFAR radio telescope in the Netherlands, scientists were able to detect a burst of radiation from a stellar system containing the so-called hot Jupiter, a giant gas giant that is close to becoming a star.
The researchers also observed two other exoplanets emitting radio emission. They turned out to be heavenly bodies in systems 55 Cancer and Upsilon Andromeda. But only the exoplanetary system Tau Bootes, located about 51 light years from Earth, had intense radio emission. According to scientists, its source may be the planet’s magnetic field.
Two years ago, scientists examined the signature of Jupiter’s radio emission and were able to build a model that mimicked the signatures of Jupiter-like exoplanets. These results have become a model for the search for radio emission from exoplanets located at a distance of 40 to 100 light years. After almost 100 hours of radio survey, the researchers were able to record the predicted signal from a celestial body in the Tau Boötes system.
Astronomers tried to exclude all factors and it turned out that the signal is most likely coming from the planet. To confirm this accurately, the authors will have to make several additional observations. Scientists now plan to conduct a study using several more radio telescopes. If the signal really exists, then it will be the first radiation in the radio range that mankind has managed to catch from an exoplanet.
Another puzzling signal from a nearby star
Astronomers participating in the Breakthrough Listen project to search for extraterrestrial life are preparing a report on an unusual radio signal emanating, most likely, from the star, Proxima Centauri, closest to the Sun.
The beam was observed for about 30 hours by Parkes Observatory in Australia in April and May last year, according to The Guardian. Scientists are still analyzing the signal and have not yet identified its source.
Breakthrough Listen’s $ 100 million project is looking for strange radio waves in space. Most often, their sources are near-earth objects, for example, satellites. Scientists admit that the new signal will also receive a “boring” explanation, but so far they are puzzled by its unusualness. According to the researchers, the direction of the 980 MHz beam and the shift in its frequency correspond to the movement of the planet.
It is known that at least two planets revolve around the star Proxima Centauri. One of them is a gas giant, and the second is a rocky planet about 17% more massive than Earth. This planet, known as Proxima b, orbits its star every 11 days and is in the so-called “habitable zone”, where, in theory, liquid water could exist. However, the conditions on the planet are still quite extreme for the existence of life, scientists suggest.
Astronomers are now eagerly awaiting a future report to learn more about the strange signal.
Can’t see the forest for the trees?
Meanwhile on earth, UFO incidents continue, while astronomers are trying to catch a glimpse of signal ‘awakenings’ thousands of light years away.
Mexico, December 9, 2020:
Arizona, December 17. Despite the fact that the drone’s camera is very high-speed, the object has left only a few frames on the sensor and its speed is incredible:
Finally – Belgium, December 16:
In general, quite a lot of strange things are happening around the world.
In general, quite a lot of strange things are happening around the world, but astronomers are more interested in Tau Boötes.
Nevertheless, their discovery is interesting because, approximately in the same way, the famous 1997 science fiction film “Contact” begins. There, too, at first there was some kind of signal from an exoplanet, which the astronomers deciphered, and then the engineers built a miracle space vehicle based on the circuit in the signal. Jodie Foster deployed as a pilot into it and sent to fly to distant uncharted lands.
