What are tidally locked planets?

Tidally locked planets are worlds that always show the same face to their star, just like how the Moon always shows the same side to Earth.

Imagine you and your friend are holding hands and spinning around in a circle. No matter how fast you spin, you’ll always see each other, but someone outside looking in would see one of you most of the time. That’s kind of what happens with tidally locked planets!

Tidally locked means the planet takes the same amount of time to rotate on its axis as it does to orbit its star. So, just like your friend always faces you while spinning, one side of the planet is always facing its star.

This means that one side gets super hot, like being in the sunlight all day, and the other side gets really cold, like being in the dark all night. It’s like having a world with a permanent daytime and a permanent nighttime!

The Moon is tidally locked to Earth, which is why we only ever see one side of it. Scientists think some planets around other stars are also tidally locked, maybe even ones we could visit someday!