Researchers have determined the massive, towering alien dunes on Saturn's largest moon, Titan, were formed in a completely different manner from Earth's Sahara Desert.

Deserts on Earth are formed continuously over time but Titan's dunes were created via brisk but very powerful rogue winds.

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Titan's dunes are more than 300 feet tall and it's still an enigma to scientists since these formations seem to form in the opposite direction of Titan's omnipresent eastern winds. New studies reveal these colossal dunes were formed during rare bursts of western winds.

Devon Burr from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville studied the physics of wind-blown sand on Venus using a wind tunnel. He used the wind tunnel to recreate the conditions that influence the formation of dunes in a lower yet denser gravity compared to Earth's. 

Burr was formerly with the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute.

Titan's dunes, however, aren't made of the same sand as the Sahara desert or any other desert on Earth. It consists of a more viscous material.

It's still unclear to scientists what kind of material the dunes are made of, however. Hydrogen and carbon are present among the alien dunes as they are on Earth. Burr believes this hydrogen carbon material coats particles of water ice.

Another study examined data from the Cassini spacecraft's to study Titan's dunes and determined it might have taken as long as 3,000 Saturn years for those to form, which is equivalent to 90,000 Earth years. This dune formation could also be influenced by changes in Saturn's orbit.

Titan's ever evolving landscape provides new insights for scientists since Titan's terrain shares similarities to Earth's, too. To date, Titan is the only moon in the solar system to possess an atmosphere with a liquid on its surface. Titan's lakes and oceans, however, consist of liquid methane and ethanol and not liquid water.

TagsColossal Dunes on Saturn's Moon Titan Formed by Rogue Winds, Saturn, titan moon, NASA, cassini spacecraft, giant dunes saturn moon titan winds