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Gennady Detinich
Astronomers have spotted a repeating radio signal from space and forwarded his to a rocky exoplanet the size of Earth. But this is not a transmission from an alien intelligence. The essence of the discovery is different – this may be a sign of a magnetic field near a distant planet. And the magnetic field is a shield for the atmosphere and the basis for the birth of biological life. Before that, no one had yet found Earth-like exoplanets with signs of a magnetic field. Planet YZ Ceti b became the first.
Image Source: National Science Foundation/Alice Kitterman
We note right away that the study is replete with tolerances and cannot be considered complete. The detected repeating radio signal from the planet YZ Ceti b from the YZ Ceti star system in the constellation Ceti slightly does not coincide with the period of the exoplanet’s orbit. This, too, may have an explanation. For example, the magnetic field of an exoplanet has a slope and this introduces an inaccuracy in the repetition period of radio bursts.
At the same time, there is enough data to build a rough model of what is happening in the YZ Ceti system. The planet YZ Ceti b makes one revolution around its star in regarding two days. This star is not as bright and hot as our Sun, but two days is very, very close to have liquid water and conditions for the birth of biological life. On the other hand, it becomes possible to register the strong interaction of the magnetic fields of the star and the planet.
This is not possible in large orbits. At least if you use modern astronomical instruments and techniques. However, if the planet is located very close to the star, then the plasma wind of the star will cause significant disturbances in the planet’s magnetic field, which, as scientists suggest, they were able to observe in the YZ Ceti system.
observational data scientists presented in the article In the magazine Nature Astronomy. If confirmed, this would be the discovery of the first rocky Earth-like exoplanet with its own magnetic field. There is no life on this particular planet in our understanding, and there will not be, but the discovery will lead to the development of a method for detecting magnetic fields in exoplanets in general, and this is another opportunity for a directed search for life in the Universe.