There is a classification of planets out there in the cosmos colloquially referred to by astronomers as Eyeball Planets. The moniker comes from their appearance which look like, well, eyeballs. Here’s why they look like that.
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00:00There is a classification of planets out there in the cosmos, colloquially referred to by
00:07astronomers as eyeball planets.
00:10Their moniker comes from their appearance, which looks like, well, eyeballs.
00:13But why do they look like that?
00:15It all has to do with tidal locking.
00:17Just like our moon is tidally locked to Earth, with only one side constantly facing us.
00:21But if that cosmic body was instead a moon or a planet with water and continents like
00:25Earth, but was tidally locked to a much larger object like a star, one side would likely
00:29be in constant sunlight, with a perpetual twilight area of liquid oceans.
00:34The other side of the planet would be in constant darkness and would likely be entirely frozen,
00:38giving the planet a pupil-iris sclera appearance.
00:41What's even wilder about these eyeball planets, however, is that previous studies into their
00:45planetology suggest the twilight oceanic areas could be habitable, with fertile regions for
00:50growing and temperature control due to constant pseudo-daytime.
00:54Astronomers also say that the constant sun side isn't necessarily a dry, arid place either.
00:58If there is water present, we could discover large warm oceans just like on Earth.