Skip to playerSkip to main contentSkip to footer
Amaze Lab
  • 12/12/2024
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.

Category

📚
Learning
Transcript
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.

Recommended

1:17
Up next
Giving Hope for Life on Other Worlds With The Help of this City at the Bottom of the Ocean
Amaze Lab
today
1:17
Global Warming Could Increase These Specific Types of Bites
Amaze Lab
today
1:09
Mystery Solved? The Bigfoot Conundrum Could Be At Last Solved
Amaze Lab
today
1:03
How These Time-Lapse’s Can Change The Way You See The Earth
Amaze Lab
today
1:10
Eyeball Planets Are Likely Out There and Astronomers Say They Could Be Habitable
Amaze Lab
12/26/2023
1:10
Astronomers Say These Eyeball Planets Could Actually Be Habitable
Amaze Lab
6/25/2025
1:19
Astronomers Discover Cosmic Planet-Like Object That Burns Hotter Than the Sun
Amaze Lab
6/19/2023
1:18
Why NASA Thinks Exoplanets Are Shrinking
Amaze Lab
5/26/2025
0:53
Want To Live On An Icy Snowball Of A Planet?
Entertainment (now)
8/12/2019
1:18
Why Are Exoplanets Shrinking? NASA Scientists May Have an Answer
Amaze Lab
6/23/2025
1:18
NASA Scientists Say Exoplanets Are Shrinking and They Finally Have an Explanation
Amaze Lab
11/20/2023
1:09
Astronomers Might Finally Know Where to Look for the 9th Planet
Amaze Lab
9/1/2021
4:21
What If a New Planet Formed in the Solar System?
WHAT IF
2/19/2021
5:47
What If a Black Neutron Star Entered the Solar System?
WHAT IF
9/24/2021
1:14
These Gorgeous Infographics Reveal an Illustrated Collection of More Than 1,000 Exoplanets
Amaze Lab
7/8/2024
1:14
‘Cotton Candy’ Exoplanet Gets Even Weirder With Asymmetrical Atmosphere
Amaze Lab
10/9/2024
1:09
Could There Be Another Planet Out In Our Solar System?
Amaze Lab
12/6/2024
9:34
Does This Planet EXIST... And Will It KILL Earth?
Unveiled
9/25/2024
0:55
This Huge Planet Close to Earth Could be Hiding Strange Forms of Life
Amaze Lab
1/18/2019
2:00
These Planets That Are Similar to Jupiter and Neptune Are Found Orbiting Around a Sun-Like Star
Amaze Lab
1/28/2025
1:16
Does The Discovery Of This Planet Break Our Theory of Planet Formation?
Amaze Lab
2/6/2025
8:27
How The Planets Got Their Names | Unveiled
Unveiled
3/29/2020
1:00
Strangest known exoplanets ever discovered
AccuWeather
11/9/2017
1:10
The Search For The Real Planet X
Popular Science
1/19/2016
1:21
Astronomers Identify a New Super-Earth They Say Could Be Habitable
Amaze Lab
2/6/2024