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.
00:00There's a classification of planets out there in the cosmos, colloquially referred to by astronomers 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, just like our moon is tidally locked to Earth, with only one side constantly facing us.
00:22But if that cosmic body was instead a moon or a planet with water and continents like Earth, but was tidally locked to a much larger object like a star,
00:29one side would likely be 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, giving the planet a pupil iris sclera appearance.
00:41What's even wilder about these eyeball planets, however, is that previous studies into their planetology suggest the twilight oceanic areas could be habitable,
00:49with fertile regions for growing and temperature control due to constant pseudo-daytime.
00:53Astronomers 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.
