A team of French astronomers using ESO’s Very Large Telescope have discovered an … The vast majority of these planets have been discovered through indirect techniques—changes in the parent star’s velocity or brightness caused by the presence of a planet. Indirect Detection is when the exoplanet is visible through a telescope. The first reliably confirmed exoplanet claim came in 1988, when Bruce Campbell, G. A. H. Walker, and S. Yang identified an exoplanet circling γ Cephei A (44.9 ly) (Hatzes et al., 2003).The primary detection methods are indirect, so we have direct visual observations of 10 exoplanets, including Fomalhaut b (25 ly) and 2M1207b (right 230 ly) the first to be seen in 2005. spectroscopic imaging of the atmospheres of every exoplanet atmosphere we can obtain spectra from, direct imaging of a variety of exoplanets involving a decomposition of their light, The imaging method is the only direct detection method since it allows astronomers to directly take a photograph of the planet. René Doyon and David Lafrenière , professors at iREx, are pioneers of the direct imaging method and were part of the team that led to the discovery of the four planets around HR8799. They are very dim compared to their host stars, and very far away from us. Most of the exoplanets known today have been discovered by indirect techniques, based on the study of the host star radial velocity or photometric temporal variations. Therefore, scientists rely on indirect methods, like looking at the stars themselves for signs that planets might be orbiting them. The first confirmation of an exoplanet orbiting a main-sequence star was made in 1995, when a giant planet was found in a four-day orbit around the nearby star 51 Pegasi. The third method is direct method or imaging the exoplanet directly. NASAs James Webb Space Telescope will open a new window on these exoplanets, observing them in wavelengths at which they have never been seen before. The exoplanet group at Stanford specializes in direct imaging of exoplanets, blocking out the … For the first time, astronomers have shared images of an exoplanet … How We Search for Exoplanets Astronomers have devised a number of clever ways to seek out small, dim planets next to their bright host stars. a. The presence of an exoplanet is typically confirmed via indirect looking at the effect the planet has on its host star. b. Direct detection refers to the situation where an exoplanet cannot be seen through a telescope, but its existence is inferred from the behavior of its host star. [/caption] Have the floodgates opened for imaging exoplanets?! Directly imaging exoplanets is challenging, to say the least. Direct method or Imaging the exoplanet: This is the toughest method for detecting exoplanet. The two main indirect methods used to detect the exoplanets are Doppler method and transit method.