Joe & Jim, Exploanets are found in three ways: transits in which the planet dims the parent star as it transits our line of site; by measuring the radial velocity change of the parent star as the planet and star orbit their common center of gravity; and direct observation such as the Hubble telescopes image of Fomalhaut-b. In the case of transiting planets virtually all are hot Jupiter sized planets that orbit their parent star rapidly in a few days. These transiting planets are confirmed by radial velocity measurements. By correlating these radial velocity changes with the transit period, confirmation is achieved. The direct radial velocity discovered planets are also for the most part in the range of hot Jupiters but their orbit does not cross our line of sight to the star thus a transit is not seen. There has been only one planet discovered (XO-3b) that is very massive ~12 x Jupiters mass. There was some controversy over its mass as the theoretical dividing line between a planet and a brown dwarf is 13 Jupiter masses. As for large sunspots being confused with an exoplanet transit, there would not be a radial velocity change when measuring a spotted star. A final note if you want to see a transiting planet with a small scope, set your calendars for June 6, 2012 at 01h 29m 28s UT at which time Venus will transit our Sun. The ingress will be visible in N. America while the entire transit will be visible from a swath starting in Alaska and ending in Australia. Book you tickets now!!! Jerry Foote ScopeCraft, Inc. 4175 E. Red Cliffs Dr. Kanab, UT 84741 435-899-1255 jfoote@scopecraft.com