Scientists Detect Radio Signals from an Exoplanet for the First Time in History
Approximately 63 light-years from Earth lies a planetary system so young that its less than 1 percent as old as our solar system. It is called Beta Pictoris, and—as far as astronomers have confirmed—it consists of a star more massive than the sun, three giant planets, and a huge disk of dust and debris.
The middle planet in the system, Beta Pictoris b, is a gas giant several times more massive than Jupiter. Being a gas giant, it likely does not have a solid surface on which to “land,” and at just a few tens of millions of years old, it can be considered a newborn planet in astronomical terms. It’s also one of the most extensively studied exoplanetsthrough direct observation. Its youth keeps it hot and bright, and its distance from the star—similar to that between our sun and Saturn—makes it possible to distinguish from the star with...
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