Astronomers have picked up radio waves that appear to originate from Beta Pictoris b, a planet orbiting a star beyond our solar system, according to reporting by The New York Times. If the finding holds, it would mark the first time radio emission has been traced to an alien planet, the Times reports.
Coverage of the result has circulated widely. Sci.News reported that astronomers detected a radio signal from Beta Pictoris b, while WIRED described the work as the first detection of radio signals from an exoplanet in history. The Russian outlet realnoevremya.com also carried the story. The technology site Hackaday referenced the news in its Sept. 27, 2026 links roundup.
The reports surfaced in late September 2026, with The New York Times publishing its account on Sept. 29. The available summaries do not include the observing instruments, the research team behind the work, or the journal where any study appeared, so those specifics remain unclear from the material reviewed here.
The claim is significant because radio emission has long been used to study objects within our own solar system, but confirming it from a planet orbiting another star is a far harder measurement. Independent verification and peer review would be central to establishing whether the signal is genuinely planetary in origin.
What to watch next: whether the researchers release full data and whether other observatories can reproduce the detection.
