Radio signals detected from distant planet for first time

What can radio waves tell us about a planet more than 60 light years away? Experts think they may have just discovered the answer.

Scientists say they have detected signals coming from a distant planet for the first time, giving them a new way to study worlds beyond our Solar System.

The radio waves came from Beta Pictoris b, a giant exoplanet orbiting a young star.

Researchers think they are linked to auroras - similar to the Northern Lights we see on Earth.

An international team of astronomers used the MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa to pick up changing bursts of radio waves coming from Beta Pictoris b.

The planet is a huge gas giant, around 10 to 12 times the mass of Jupiter, and is located outside our own Solar System, around 63 light years from Earth.

Scientists say that the radio signal was coming from the planet itself, rather than from the wider star system.

The team believe it is the first time this has been confirmed for a single planet beyond our own planetary system.

Researchers believe the signals are linked to the same processes that create auroras on planets in our Solar System.

On Earth, auroras (such as the Northern Lights) happen when electrically charged particles, caused by activity on the sun, interact with our planet's atmosphere and magnetic field.

They react with gases in our upper atmosphere creating amazing colours we can see in the night sky - including green, red, blue and pink.

By studying the radio waves, scientists say they think that Beta Pictoris b has a magnetic field thousands of times stronger than Earth's.

The researchers say the discovery could help them learn more about the different types of distant planets that exist beyond our Solar System, and whether they might have the conditions needed to support life.