Because they are often tidally locked to their parent star – producing permanent day and night sides – some alien worlds orbiting red dwarf stars might resemble giant eyeballs. The night side would be a frozen, white shell, and the day side would host a giant ocean of liquid water constantly basking in the warmth of its star. Researchers, supported in part by the NASA Astrobiology Institute, are now proposing experiments to simulate these distant planets and see how capable they are of supporting life.

Astrobiology Magazine has the full story.