ScienceDaily Magazine -- Off-The-Shelf Camera Device To Hunt For Distant Planets Charbonneau and his colleagues will soon use their gizmo to begin a three-year survey for extra-solar planets at Palomar Observatory in San Diego County. The instrument is based on a standard telephoto lens for a 35-millimeter camera. It will sweep the skies, looking for "hot Jupiters," or large, gaseous planets, as their fast orbits take them in front of other stars, into the line of sight between a star and Earth. Astronomers will watch for the "wink" from the star as an orbiting planet partially blocks its light