Exoplanets-planets circling other stars-have been detected for the first time ten years ago. Today, more than 100 are known, and they all not at all Earth-like, but massive, possibly resembling the gas giants of the Solar system, like Saturn.
Today's programme visits the Observatoire de Haute Provence, a leading institution in the search for exoplanets. It looks at the techniques the astronomers are using to literally find a needle in a haystack.