Robert Hurt:
The exoplanet 55 Cancri e. which is about twice as large as the earth,
orbits closely around its star and is blazingly hot
While in visible light it's easily lost in the glare of the star,
It's thermal glow in the infrared makes it stand out much more vividly.
Watching as the planet passes behind the star, astronomers have detected a slight dip in brightness
using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope
This is the first direct measurement of the brightness of such a small planet.