Story perspectives

MeerKAT measures ? Pictoris b magnetic field via auroral bursts

By Drooid · Sep 24, 2026, 2:18 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

MeerKAT radio telescope array detected repeating auroral radio bursts from exoplanet ? Pictoris b.
The bursts were traced to ? Pictoris b by aligning radio images with nine Gaia-measured quasars.
Circular polarization and frequencies up to 3.5 GHz indicate a magnetic field of at least 1,250 gauss.
This provides the first direct magnetic-field strength measurement for any confirmed exoplanet.

History

Historical Context

Voyager 1’s 1979 Jupiter flyby recorded the planet’s magnetic field during a 48-hour observation window, confirming planetary magnetism first hinted at by Pioneer 10’s earlier detection of Jupiter’s field. Juno’s 2016 polar orbit later refined Jupiter’s magnetic map, and those milestones established techniques that today enable radio arrays to probe magnetic fields of distant exoplanets.

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Story summary

MeerKAT radio telescope array detected repeating auroral radio bursts from exoplanet ? Pictoris b.
The bursts were traced to ? Pictoris b by aligning radio images with nine Gaia-measured quasars.
Circular polarization and frequencies up to 3.5 GHz indicate a magnetic field of at least 1,250 gauss.
This provides the first direct magnetic-field strength measurement for any confirmed exoplanet.

1 / 2