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LOFAR pioneers new way to study exoplanet environments

febr. 18, 2020

Using the Dutch-led Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) radio telescope, astronomers have discovered unusual radio waves coming from the nearby red dwarf star GJ1151. The radio waves bear the tell-tale signature of aurorae caused by an interaction between a star and its planet. The radio emission from a star-planet interaction has been predicted for over thirty-years but this is the first time astronomers have been able to discern its signature. This method, only possible with a sensitive radio telescope like LOFAR, opens the door to a new way of discovering exoplanets in the habitable zone and studying the environment they exist in. 

More information available :

https://www.astron.nl/news-and-events/news/lofar-pioneers-new-way-study-exoplanet-environments

https://youtu.be/uQFESMYSrTE

Paper link

‘Coherent radio emission from a quiescent red dwarf indicative of star–planet interaction’ is published in Nature Astronomy on 17 February 2020: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-020-1011-9



DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-020-1011-9


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