'Powerful auroras' on alien planets may be sending strange radio signals toward Earth

By Brandon Specktor 2 days ago

The northern lights on these worlds must be much, much stronger than on Earth.



Four false-color images showing the southern aurora on Saturn. Scientists may have detected four brand-new
planets, thanks to the glow of their auroras.
(Image credit: NASA/JPL/ASI/University of Arizona/University of Leicester)

Four brand-new alien planets have potentially been discovered after scientists detected the shimmering radio flashes of auroras in those planets' atmospheres, a new study says.

Auroras occur when solar wind — intense gusts of electric particles belched out by the sun — smash into a planet's magnetic shield. Earth experiences auroras near the north and south poles, where miraculous displays of color and light streak through the evening sky.

But this pleasant light show is only a piece of the story; astronomers know that the cosmic clash of solar wind and magnetic fields also produces bright flashes of radio light that can be seen far across the galaxy. To an alien observer hundreds of light-years away, the auroras of Earth may look like sudden, bright explosions of radio energy.

Now, in a study published Oct. 11 in the journal Nature Astronomy, scientists think they've discovered four brand-new planets within 160 light-years of Earth, by detecting the shimmering radio flashes of auroras in those planets' atmospheres. If confirmed by future research, these four alien worlds will be the first planets detected through radio waves alone, the researchers said — potentially opening a new avenue for planetary detection in our galaxy.

More:
https://www.livescience.com/alien-aurora-radio-waves