Here is an intro and brief transcription on this really clever method they have developed:

Astronomers have successfully commissioned a new type of optic that can reveal the image of an exoplanet next to its parent star. The ‘vector Apodizing Phase Plate’ (vector-APP) coronagraph was installed at the 6.5-m Magellan Clay telescope in Chile in May 2015, and the first observations demonstrated an unprecedented contrast performance very close to the star, where planets are more likely to reside. These results will be presented by PhD student Gilles Otten this Monday afternoon to the scientific community at the “In the Spirit of Lyot” conference organized by the Centre for Research in Astrophysics of Québec and researchers at the University of Montreal. Almost 2000 exoplanets have been detected to date, but only a handful of those have been imaged directly. Exoplanets are typically more than a million times fainter than and are lost in the glare of their parent star as seen from Earth. To directly image exoplanets and to characterize their atmospheres, astronomical instruments at the world’s largest telescopes use coronagraphs to suppress the overwhelming halo of light from the star.

It sounds like a really smart way to at least start narrowing where to focus.  Even by paying close attention to only these regions seems like good common sense!

We hope you like the video below as well highlighting interesting strategy as well.

thanks to The University of Montreal for the great info