{
  "id": 13128723,
  "title": "Vida fora da Terra? Telescópio capta ondas de rádio de outra galáxia",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/07/vida-fora-da-terra-telescopio-capta-ondas-de-radio-de-outra-galaxia-13128723",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-10-07T18:39:26.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Brazil Journal",
    "slug": "brazil-journal",
    "url": "https://braziljournal.com/vida-fora-da-terra-telescopio-capta-ondas-de-radio-de-outra-galaxia"
  },
  "original_language": "pt",
  "account": "Recent discoveries suggest that we may not be alone in the Universe. A telescope in South Africa has captured radio waves coming from a planet named Beta Pictoris b, located 63 light-years away from Earth, according to the New York Times. Scientists believe the signal was sent from the planet through an aurora formed by a magnetic field around the celestial body - a theory that, if confirmed, would be the first time a magnetic field is found on a planet outside our Solar System. Magnetic fields are crucial in the search for extraterrestrial life because they protect a planet's atmosphere and stabilize its conditions for life. Without our magnetic field, for example, Earth's surface would be swept away by the Sun's radiation. The study was published in September in an open scientific research platform and has yet to go through the peer review process. The discovery happened at the end of 2025 and beginning of 2026 when Kevin Ortiz Ceballos, a student at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and his colleagues started searching for radio signals using the 64 antennas of MeerKAT, one of the most advanced radio telescopes in the world. During the observations, they noticed something different about Beta Pictoris b. To observe it more closely, they asked for help from the team in South Africa to direct the antennas and saw that the planet has a \"very strong magnetic activity,\" according to Ceballos. With the antenna pointed at the planet, the next step is to clarify if the signals are indeed coming from the magnetic field, and then discover the level of habitability of the planet. Astronomers are also interested in learning more about magnetic fields because they allow studying the interior of distant planets in a unique way. These fields are typically generated by the rotation of a planet's core, so it's likely that something similar is happening within Beta Pictoris b.",
  "summary": "Ainda não se sabe se há vida fora da Terra, mas descobertas recentes podem ser um indício de que não estamos sozinhos no Universo. Um telescópio na África do Sul conseguiu captar ondas de rádio vindas de um planeta a 63 anos-luz de distância da Terra, segundo o New York Times .",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Brazil Journal",
        "title": "Life outside Earth? Telescope captures radio waves from another galaxy",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/07/vida-fora-da-terra-telescopio-capta-ondas-de-radio-de-outra-galaxia",
        "published": "2026-10-07T18:39:26.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}