The low sun angle in this astronaut photo of Junggar Basin shows off the wind- and water-carved landscape. Located in northwestern China, this region is covered in dune fields, appearing Keep reading
Tag: sand dunes
Field of Dunes
Barchan dunes collide in this astronaut image of Brazil’s southern coastline. Barchan (pronounced “bar-kahn”) dunes are crescent-shaped; their tips point downwind into their direction of travel. When many barchan dunes Keep reading
Changing Climes on Mars
China’s Zhurong rover explored Utopia Planitia on Mars from May 2021 to December 2022. During that expedition, the rover uncovered evidence of a major shift in climate that took place Keep reading
Complex Dunes
Sometimes landscapes have a beauty that’s hard to see from the ground. This astronaut’s photo shows a dune field in the sand seas of Saudi Arabia. Vast linear dunes line Keep reading
Racing Dunes
The deserts of Namibia are home to some of the fastest and most consistent winds in the world. As a result, they’re also home to some of the fastest-moving dunes Keep reading
Dune Fields From Space
An astronaut captured this image of the Oyyl Dune Field in Kazakhstan from the International Space Station. To the south and east of the dune field (right and lower parts Keep reading
How Dunes Form
On its face, the idea that sand and wind can come together to form massive mountainous dunes seems bizarre. But dunes — and their smaller cousins, ripples — are everywhere, Keep reading
Martian Flyover
Fly over a Martian crater in this incredibly detailed 8K video built from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter imagery. Like Earth’s deserts, Mars is largely shaped by wind, and we get some Keep reading
Ice and Dunes
Although dunes are usually associated with scorching climates, they can form in any desert, including in the frozen steppes of western Mongolia. This sunrise photo, taken by an astronaut aboard Keep reading
Dune Invasion
Migrating sand dunes can encounter obstacles both natural and manmade as they move. Dunes — both above ground and under water — have been known to bury roads, pipelines, and Keep reading