The search for an Earth-sized exoplanet with a magnetic field is akin to the proverbial search for a needle in a haystack. However, astronomers have recently come across a promising candidate – thanks to targeting planets that are really close to their stars.
The team successfully detected repeating radio signals coming from the so-called YZ Ceti b, which orbits a star just 12 light-years from Earth.
“I see this thing that no one has seen before,” commented on it co-author of the new study Jackie Villadsen from Bucknell University.
The search for extraterrestrial life continues
The forms of life we have known so far need an atmosphere. And a planet’s atmosphere seems to need a magnetic field to protect it from the volatile emissions of its host star.
“The search for potentially habitable or life-bearing worlds in other solar systems depends in part on being able to determine whether rocky Earth-like exoplanets actually have magnetic fields,” stated Joe Pesce z National Radio Astronomy Observatory.
“This research not only shows that this particular rocky exoplanet likely has a magnetic field, but also provides a promising method to find others,” he added.
