Scientists have discovered a radiation belt surrounding an object outside the solar system, using a network of 39 radio telescopes spanning from Hawaii to Germany to obtain high-resolution images of an ultracool dwarf, media reports.
The images reveal a cloud of high-energy electrons trapped in the object's powerful magnetic field, forming a double-lobed structure similar to Jupiter's radiation belts.
Melodie Kao, a postdoctoral fellow at UC Santa Cruz and the first author of a paper on the new findings, said, "We are actually imaging the magnetosphere of our target by observing the radio-emitting plasma—its radiation belt—in the magnetosphere. That has never been done before for something the size of a gas giant planet outside our solar system."
The study is a critical first step in finding more such objects and studying the magnetic fields of potentially habitable Earth-size planets.
The belt of energetic electrons encircles a Jupiter-sized body located approximately 18 light-years from Earth.
The radiation belts offer a glimpse into the object's magnetic field and internal structure and may even explain whether it has moons. While every planet in the solar system with a magnetic field has radiation belts, this is the first time such belts have been observed outside our solar system.
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