A team of scientists detected repetitive radio signals from an exoplanet identified as YZ Ceti b, which orbits a star located about 12 light-years from Earth, according to research published in the journal Nature Astronomy.
The researchers Sebastián Pineda and Jackie Villadsen explained that these radio signals, which were recorded by the Karl G. telescopes, could be indicating that this celestial body has an atmosphere and its own magnetic field, which is transcendental for life and had not been identified. so far detected on planets similar to ours.
Researchers at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder have found in YZ Ceti b the best example of a magnetic field ever seen, although it remains to be confirmed, reports Sputnik.
In a press release, Villadsen, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy at Bucknell University, said he was “seeing something no one has seen before.”
For his part, Pineda, an astrophysicist at the University of Colorado, said “we saw the initial outburst and it seemed beautiful to us. […] when we saw it again, it was very indicative that, okay, maybe we really do have something here.”
In order for the astrophysical phenomenon to be detectable at a long distance, these must be very intense, an issue that is more difficult to appreciate in celestial bodies of the same size as planet Earth. Likewise, magnetic fields are invisible, which makes it difficult to determine if they really exist.
But if the exoplanet’s flux passes through enough stellar matter, the star will emit bright radio waves.
Therefore, by measuring electromagnetic radiation, the strength of a planet’s magnetic field can be determined. “This is giving us new information about the environment of the stars […] is what we are calling extrasolar space weather“, assured Pineda.
In this way, it is that the team modeled the magnetospheric environment of the system in the context of subalfvenic star-planet magnetic interrelationships (SPI), and it is this that supports that the repeated signals detected come from a similar planet. to the earth.
The research indicates that YZ Ceti b is in an orbit at a speed of two Earth days, which means that the exoplanet’s magnetic field with the plasma of the M-type star frequently interact. Also, the specialists, once they measured these radio waves, were able to measure the strength of the magnetic field, discovering that what was being seen was an aurora on the star.
National Radio Astronomy Observatory program director Joe Pesce said this research shows not only that this particular rocky exoplanet likely has a magnetic field, but “provides a promising method for finding more.”