Tag Archive for 'Dune'

This image from ESA’s Mars Express shows an area close to Mars’ north pole. The image comprises data gathered by Mars Express’ High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on April 14, 2023. Image credit: ESA / DLR / FU Berlin.

Mars Express Spots Sand Dunes and Ice Layers at Martian North Pole

Mar 1, 2024 by News Staff

New images from the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft show the terrain surrounding the permanent north polar ice...

Macrobiotus naginae. Scale bar - 100 μm. Image credit: Daniel Stec.

New Species of Sand Dune-Dwelling Tardigrade Discovered in Finland

Nov 10, 2022 by Natali Anderson

Scientists have described a new species of the Macrobiotus pseudohufelandi complex from sand dunes of inland Finland. Macrobiotus naginae. Scale bar –...

This view of Titan is among the last images NASA’s Cassini spacecraft sent to Earth before it plunged into the giant planet’s atmosphere. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Space Science Institute.

Planetary Researchers Model Landscape Formation on Saturn’s Moon Titan

Apr 25, 2022 by News Staff

Alongside Earth and Mars, Titan is the third planetary body in the Solar System to show evidence for widespread and diverse sedimentary environments, including...

Ridges of possible aeolian origin from the Galileo Solid State Imager. Image credit: McDonald et al., doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-29682-x.

Dune-Like Features Spotted on Jupiter’s Moon Io

Apr 19, 2022 by News Staff

Jupiter’s moon Io is the most volcanically active body in the Solar System, and the body that is known to be most rapidly resurfaced. Surface modification...

This image comprises data gathered by ESA’s Mars Express on November 8, 2020, during orbit 21,305. Image credit: ESA / DLR / FU Berlin / CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.

Mars Express Spots Festive Silhouettes near Martian South Pole

Dec 18, 2020 by News Staff

The wings of an angelic figure, complete with halo, can be seen sweeping up and off the top of the frame in a new image from ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft,...

This oblique color view from the HiRISE instrument onboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows a lithified field of sand dunes within Melas Chasma, Valles Marineris. The large degree of preserved morphology for many of these paleodunes reveals important information regarding the acting wind regime and climate prior to their cementation. Image credit: NASA / JPL / University of Arizona.

One-Billion-Year-Old Sand Dunes Spotted on Mars

Oct 12, 2020 by News Staff

Planetary researchers have mapped and characterized ancient sand dune fields in the canyons of Valles Marineris on Mars. Their discovery offers new insights...

Perspective view of the Moreux crater. Image credit: ESA / DLR / FU Berlin / CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.

Mars Express Sees Intriguing Geological Features in Moreux Crater

Mar 10, 2020 by News Staff

The High Resolution Stereo Camera on ESA’s Mars Express orbiter has captured stunning images of Moreux crater, a huge impact crater in the Terra Sabaea...

Sand dunes. Image credit: Nicola Giordano.

Sand Dunes Can Communicate with Each Other, Says New Study

Feb 5, 2020 by News Staff

As they move, sand dunes interact with and repel their downstream neighbors, according to a new study published in the journal Physical Review Letters....

The moons of our Solar System are brimming with unusual landscapes. However, sometimes they look a little more familiar, as in this new radar image from the Cassini orbiter. The image shows dark streaks carved into dunes reminiscent of those we might find on a beach on Earth, or raked with flowing lines in a Japanese Zen garden — but this scene is actually taking place on Saturn’s moon Titan. While our sand is composed of silicates, the ‘sand’ of these alien dunes is formed from grains of organic materials about the same size as particles of our beach sand. The small size and smoothness of these grains means that the flowing lines carved into the dunes show up as dark to the human eye. While previous images have spotted these eerily familiar patterns on Titan's dunes, this new image (colorized) shows them in greater detail. The image was obtained by Cassini's radar mapper on July 10, 2013. The vertical seam near the center is an artifact of radar image data processing. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / Sci-News.com.

Researchers Unravel Origin and Chemical Composition of Titan’s Mysterious Dunes

Oct 22, 2019 by News Staff

Vast longitudinal dunes up to 330 feet (100 m) in height in the equatorial deserts of Saturn’s moon Titan are the Solar System’s most monumental surface...

The retreat of the Martian polar cap of frozen carbon dioxide during the spring and summer generates winds that drive the largest movements of sand dunes observed on Mars. Image credit: NASA / JPL / University of Arizona / USGS.

Martian Sand Dunes Behave Differently than Dunes on Earth: Study

May 27, 2019 by News Staff

According to new research, published in the journal Geology, processes not involved in controlling sand movement on Earth play major roles on the Red Planet,...

This Pluto mosaic was made from New Horizons LORRI images taken on July 14, 2015, from a distance of 49,700 miles (80,000 km). This view is projected from a point 1,118 miles (1,800 km) above Pluto’s equator, looking northeast over the dark, cratered Cthulhu Regio toward the bright, smooth expanse of icy plains called Sputnik Planum. Pluto’s North Pole is off the image to the left. This mosaic was produced with panchromatic images from the New Horizons LORRI camera, with color overlaid from the Ralph color mapper onboard New Horizons. Image credit: S.A. Stern et al.

Researchers Find Methane Ice Dunes on Pluto

Jun 1, 2018 by News Staff

Wind-blown dunes are known on Earth, Mars, Venus, Saturn’s moon Titan, and Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko — and, now on Pluto, according to a...

An artist’s rendering of the surface of Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. Image credit: Benjamin de Bivort, debivort.org / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Titan Has ‘Electrically-Charged’ Hydrocarbon Sands

Mar 29, 2017 by News Staff

Low-density organic granules that cover the surface of Saturn’s moon Titan are ‘electrically charged,’ according to new experiments done by scientists...

A large pit valley in Lucaya crater, Mars: (a) exposure of putative crossbeds on windward slope of dunes, and (b) interdune strata exposed in planform showing contrasting albedo and crosscutting relationships similar to that exposed in the dune. Image credit: M.C. Bourke & H.A. Viles.

Researchers Uncover New Evidence for Water on Ancient Mars

Feb 19, 2017 by News Staff

Dr. Mary Bourke from Trinity College Dublin and University of Oxford Professor Heather Viles have discovered a patch of land in an equatorial crater on...

‘Morse code’ dunes on Mars. Image credit: NASA / JPL / University of Arizona.

‘Morse Code’ Dunes Spotted on Mars

Jul 12, 2016 by News Staff

The latest images released by NASA’s HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) team show ‘Morse code’ dunes on the Martian surface. ‘Morse...

Two sizes of ripples are evident in this December 13, 2015, view of a top of a Martian sand dune, from Curiosity. Sand dunes and the smaller type of ripples also exist on Earth. The larger ripples -- roughly 10 feet (3 m) apart -- are a type not seen on our planet nor previously recognized as a distinct type on Mars. Scale bar - 2 m (79 inches). Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS.

Scientists Discover New Type of Sand Dune — on Mars

Jul 1, 2016 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of planetary scientists led by researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) has discovered a type of dune on Mars intermediate...