Gliese 581-G (Just for fun)

[Slylok]

I like this alot! I dont get how it would look lobster like instead of eyeball like. Does the planet spin perpendicularly to its sun?

[Podcreature]

Thanks Slylok, Diamond. I don't get the lobster shape either, actually... I understand winds, currents and convection distributing heat, but the shape would be dependent on the planet's topology too, and certainly on rotation. If the planet doesn't turn how can there be winds and currents? I think that's what you're getting at, and I agree. It was college students, I think, not astronomers who came up with that particular idea, but they are probably on the right track to use a 3D climate simulator. There's an article that talks about it here Full atmosphere-ocean model of a rotationally locked exoplanet | Ars Technica but it seems eyeball worlds are still accepted in the eye-shape overall, and that makes more sense. Clouds wouldn't swirl around, they'd just steam up around water and reflect the sun's rays, but also trap heat underneath that radiated from the central desert. The clouds would freeze, and deposit snow around the edge of the ocean. This would create a huge glacial range that's constantly encroaching on the sea, but melting at the same time. New research shows that being so close to the star produces a beneficial greenhouse effect, because intense UV radiation splits oxygen atoms and creates a thicker ozone layer around the planet as well, meaning the dark side of the planet doesn't quite get cold enough to freeze the atmosphere, and lock it away. This could happen to the water, but the ice-ring that forms from the clouds loitering around the sea creates an additional moisture barrier. All theory of course... Need more time and more ideas.

Anyway, here's the map on a globe in ZBrush. Might need some tweaking still.