Cosmic Rays May Have Blasted Gigantic Sand Dunes Into Existence on Saturn’s Moon Titan

The equatorial sand dune on Saturn ’s moon Titan are among the most dramatic surface features in the Solar System , but scientists are n’t precisely sure how they formed . New experimental grounds indicate the dunes rise up as a effect of cosmic ray hitting Titan ’s surface ice .

Titan is one of the neatest place in the Solar System . It ’s a Saturnian moon that features a dim air , liquids at the surface in the class of hydrocarbon lake and sea , tremendous debris storms , andice volcanoesthat spew jets of water instead of molten lava . Titan also sport an equatorial desert , hollo the Shangri - La Sand Sea , that ’s home to a web of monumental dunes , the magniloquent of which reach as high as 100 meters ( 330 foot ) . Using NASA ’s Cassini spacecraft and the ESA ’s Huygens lander , researcher have been capable to observe these dunes , which extend across an region measure over 10 million hearty kilometers ( 3.9 million square miles ) .

On Earth , sand sand dune are composed primarily of silicates , but the dingy dunes on Titan are built from constituent materials , the stock and composition of which stay unknown .

Dunes on Titan’s surface.

Dunes on Titan’s surface.Image: (NASA/Cassini)

Previousresearchsuggestedthese organics were make in Titan ’s air , the result of a chain chemical reaction involving methane , atomic number 7 , and solar photons . stick out in the sky , these molecule rained down onto the desert ’s aerofoil , providing the substratum for the sand dune over geological timescales .

Newresearchpublished this week in Science Advances presents a Modern explanation , suggesting the particle formed instantly on Titan ’s aerofoil due to complex chemical substance reactions triggered by the steady barrage of interstellar cosmic rays .

Thanks to our trusty magnetosphere , Earth ’s open is protected from this case of radiation , but the same ca n’t be said for Titan , which can only rely on its wooden-headed atm to absorb the incoming radiation .

Image:

Dunes on Titan’s surface.Image: (University of Hawaii)

Physical chemist Ralf Kaiser from the University of Hawaii and his colleague conduct an experiment to see if frozen ethyne — a chemical chemical compound used in welding — could be commute into complex constituent molecules like the ones seen on Titan , specifically benzene and naphthalene . This enquiry was prompted by prior observations of alkyne ice rink in regions near Titan ’s dunes .

To simulate the effects of cosmic rays , the researcher blasted their sample with high - energy electron and then fire up this chemically converted product to the point of sublimation ( when solid state turn straight into gaseous state ) for chemic analysis . The experiment acquire the desired outcome , turning the acetylene into dark organic gunk , or more technically , polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons ( PAHs ) contain up to three or four carbon rings .

The unexampled inquiry shows that PAHs , including naphthalene and phenanthrene and its precursor benzol , phenylacetylene , and styrene , can be synthesized by irradiating frigid acetylene — a process that might be happening on Titan ’s surface and subsequently acting as “ as a critical molecular feedstock to the constituent dune textile , ” the generator wrote in the written report .

Argentina’s President Javier Milei (left) and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., holding a chainsaw in a photo posted to Kennedy’s X account on May 27. 2025.

This is apparently not proof that the dunes on Titan were produced in the same room , but it represents an intriguing hypothesis — both for Titan and for other place in the solar system , include celestial bodies devoid of atmospheres . In the same closet dismissal , Matthew Abplanalp , a Centennial State - author of the study , said “ ravel out the origin and chemical tract to form this constituent dune textile is vital not only to translate Titan ’s chemical evolution , but also to grasp how alike the chemistries on Titan and on Earth might have been like before life come out on Earth 3.5 million years ago . ”

https://gizmodo.com/nasa-is-officially-sending-an-aerial-drone-to-titan-and-1835918159

We ’re still not entirely certain where the dune materials came from or what they ’re made of , but NASA’sDragonfly aerial dronecould uncover more hint to this mystery , as the initial phase of the military mission will see the probe investigate a serial publication of backbone sand dune . unhappily , we ’re going to have to wait a while , as Dragonfly wo n’t take to Titan ’s fuzzy golden skies until the mid-2030s .

William Duplessie