Star no longer steals planet's light

Astronomers have identified more than 130 planets beyond our solar system. But until recently, they have never actually seen one of these planets. This because, like Earth, extra-solar planets orbit a star, and the light from the star completely outshines the dim light reflected off a planet. So until recently, the only way to confirm that a planet orbits a distant star is by observing the affects of the planet’s gravity on the star. Light from the planet was recently detected by an innovative method. Light energy signals are gathered from the star when the planet is behind the star. When these signals are subtracted from the light energy signals that are gathered when the planet comes back out from behind the star, what remains is the pure reflected light from the planet. Link.