[PatrickHenry]

... found by other methods such as a subtle shift in the starlight spectrum or infinitesimal but regular change of light output.

You gotta get with the program. Mr. Spock can glance at his instrument panel and read out the entire contents of a system from several light-years out.

[RightWhale]

Speaking of the program, there is more data arriving every day now than can ba analyzed by the professional astronomers, and the raw data is being made available to any and all through the Internet. You, too, can discover a planet or push the boundary of the universe outward to new distances.

[Senator Pardek]

Mr. Spock can glance at his instrument panel and read out the entire contents of a system from several light-years out.

I disagree - the very complex and resource comsuming ultra-tricorders fitted on to Federation vessels must be within a planet's reasonable orbit.