Encountering advanced civilizations from other planets will become a reality one day, according to many astronomers. But are those extraterrestrial beings already trying to communicate with us in one way or another? Detecting radio signals from another planet is not something new at all, and they are causing a lot of speculations.
Thanks to new research led by Jake Turner from Cornell University, radio bursts are detected from an exoplanet for the first time ever. The space object is located in the constellation Boötes, and researchers made their unique discovery by using the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) radio telescope from the Netherlands.
Watch out for the Tau Boötes system
The Tau Boötes is a binary star system located 51 light-years away from us, and it’s the location of the radio signal’s origin. Jake Turner declared:
We present one of the first hints of detecting an exoplanet in the radio realm,
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.
The researchers involved in the new study had been observing radio emissions coming from Jupiter. They further looked at over 100 hours of radio observations that were scaled for mimicking the biggest planet from our Solar System. Thus, the researchers ultimately discovered the so-called “hot Jupiter” signature in the star system.
There’s still a need for confirmation of the discovery, although it should only be a formality. When that happens, the event will open up a new window regarding exoplanets, providing scientists with a new way of analyzing distant worlds.
The new study was published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics.
