NASA uses the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satelite (TESS) telescope that employes this technology
This telescope measures the brightness/luminosity of stars. When this brightness drops regularly, every more or less in the same number of years, then there is the likelihood of a planet orbiting the star. The dip in brightness of the star is directly proportional to the size of the planet and the distance between the star and the orbiting planet.
