The Conversation contributed the article to Space.com's expert voices.
Andrew is a lecturer at the university.
What is it like to be on a planet? Or even further away, such as on the moon of Jupiter or the moon of Neptune.
Since Sputnik 1 was launched 65 years ago, advances have been made in space exploration. We don't know much about other planetary bodies in the solar system.
Sand dunes can give insight into what weather and conditions you might experience if you were standing on a far-off planetary body.
There are blue dunes on the surface of Mars.
"What does it mean to see a world in a grain of sand?" was the question asked by WilliamBlake.
We took this very seriously. To understand what conditions exist on a world's surface, the sand dunes were supposed to be used.
There are two criteria that must be met for dunes to exist. A supply of durable grains is the first thing. The winds must be fast enough to make the grains hop across the ground, but not fast enough to carry them high into the air.
Only Earth and Mars have been able to measure winds. We have seen wind-blown features on other bodies by satellite. The Goldilocks conditions are met if the dunes on these bodies are present.
Our work focused on planets and moons. The unresolved debates about these bodies have been going on for a long time.
What do we do with the wind-blown features on Triton's and Pluto's surfaces? Why do we see so much activity on Mars despite the weak winds?
Is Venus's hot and humid atmosphere similar to how air or water moves on Earth?
Our study shows how easy it would be for the debris to break apart in the wind.
We tested the predictions against all the experimental data we could get our hands on.
We applied the theories to each of the bodies, taking into account variables such as gravity, atmospheric composition, surface temperature, and the strength of soils.
Studies have looked at the wind speed threshold needed to move sand or the strength of various particles. We looked at how easy it was for particles to break apart in sand.
We don't know if the equator has sand dunes or not. Is it pure organic haze or is it mixed with denser ice?
If the winds were to blow at the equator, the organic haze would break down.
The dunes probably aren't made of pure organic haze. In order to build a dune, sand must be blown around in the wind for a long time.
In order to transport methane or nitrogen ice, wind speeds would have to be very fast on the dwarf planet. The question is whether the dunes on the Sputnik Planitia are dunes at all.
They may be waves from a different direction. The landforms on Mars's north polar cap are dune-like in appearance.
There is more dust on Mars than on Earth, according to our results. The katabatic winds that blow downhill at night may not be captured by our models.
The study is at an interesting stage.
Five space agencies are conducting active missions on Mars and we have a lot of observations. Studies like ours help inform the objectives of these missions and the paths taken by rovers.
In the outer reaches of the solar system, Triton hasn't been seen in detail in 25 years. Annihilating itself by flying into Neptune's atmosphere is what a mission proposal proposes if it is selected.
Our understanding of Venus and Titan will be changed by upcoming missions. An uncrewed helicopter will land on the moon's dunes in 2034 as part of NASA's Dragonfly mission.
There are no plans to fly by the dwarf planet in the foreseeable future.
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