Like the magnetised planets in our Solar System, magnetised exoplanets will emit strongly at radio wavelengths. This emission is the result of an interaction between the planet and the host star. The star emits an outflow of hot gas and particles called the stellar wind. As the wind is accelerated away from the star, is comes into contact with the planet's magnetic fields. The planetary magnetic fields direct most of the star's wind away from the surface of the planet, however a small portion of this material is accelerated along magnetic fields towards the poles of the planet. It is the interaction between this portion of the stellar wind and the planet's magnetic fields that produces the radio emission. This emission is highly beamed and can only be viewed when the beam of emission is directed toward an observer. As the planet moves in its orbit around the host star, this beam of emission will sweep past observers on the Earth causing the emission to look like it is bursty.
