Astronomers detect radio waves from an alien planet

Astronomers detect radio waves from an alien planet

View in browser|nytimes.com

From The Times

October 6, 2026

NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Ralf Crawford (STScI)

Radio Waves Coming From an Alien Planet May Be a Cosmic First

Beta Pictoris b appears to have an aurora caused by a powerful magnetic field. If confirmed, it would be a first outside our solar system and could be a precursor to finding more worlds that might host life.

MORE TOP STORIES

They kept outsiders away for 500 years. Their world is about to change. →

Five decades after his adoption, a St. Louis man learned that his biological father was a rock star. →

Michael McDonald, a bearded man with white hair, performs onstage with a keyboard and a microphone.

The Holei Sea Arch, a centuries-old Hawaii wonder, has crumbled into the Pacific. →

Dying patients are inundated by misinformation. Her father was one of them. →

A portrait-style photograph of a smiling man with salt-and-pepper hair and a gray goatee, in a dark blue collared shirt.

A whale battered a yacht in the South Pacific Ocean, leaving its crew stranded. →

A portion of yacht is seen above the water line as the rest of it sinks. A life raft is in the distant horizon.

Sign up for Science Times

Get stories that capture the wonders of nature, the cosmos and the human body.

Get it in your inbox.

If you received this newsletter from someone else, subscribe here.

Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance.

You received this message because you signed up for updates from The New York Times.

To stop receiving From The Times, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings.

Subscribe to The Times Get The New York Times app

Connect with us on:

Change Your Email Privacy Policy Contact Us California Notices

The New York Times Company. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018