Exoplanet in the Beta Pictoris system, 63 light-years away
Astronomers have detected helium escaping from LHS 1140b, a rocky 'super-Earth' 48 light-years away that orbits in its star's habitable zone. The finding has confirmed an atmosphere around a habitable-zone rocky exoplanet for the first time and has been published in Science; teams used ground-based infrared spectroscopy and modelling.
Astronomers have measured a magnetosphere on exoplanet Beta Pictoris b using MeerKAT, finding a magnetic field about 1,250 gauss. This marks the first such measurement and suggests auroral activity drives radio bursts from the young gas giant about 64 light-years away. The team hopes to apply the method to other giants.