The LOFAR radio telescope from the Netherlands has just detected strange radio signals from red dwarf stars within a 160 light-year radius around Earth.
“We have discovered radio signals transmitted from 19 distant red dwarf stars, 4 of which provide the most reasonable explanation for the existence of at least 1 planet orbiting them,” said astrophysicist Benjamin Pope from the University of Queensland (Australia), a member of the research team, as reported by Science Daily.
The interaction between a red dwarf star and its planet may be responsible for the mysterious radio signals – (Image: NEW SCIENTIST).
According to Science Alert, this is not a “technological signature” indicating an extraterrestrial civilization, but rather the result of interactions between exoplanets and the magnetic field of their parent stars, creating extremely strong auroral phenomena that LOFAR – a low-frequency radio telescope – can “see.”
This is an unusual phenomenon because previously, while many radio signals due to interactions between celestial bodies have been recorded within the Solar System, no one thought similar occurrences could be found in exoplanets.
The discovery is considered an important step in radio astronomy as it shows that magnetic interactions between distant celestial bodies, if strong enough, can still be detected by modern radio telescopes on Earth. Similar “explosive” interactions have been observed between Jupiter and its moon Io, creating powerful and persistent auroras at the Jovian poles and making this duo shine brightly in radio observations.
With this new observational method, astronomers hope to search for more hidden planets – similar to the 4 mentioned – that are too dim, too far, and located in obscured positions, making them impossible to observe by any other means.
The research was recently published in the scientific journal Nature.
