Dust Storms on Titan Options

[wildespace]

Dust storms on Titan spotted for the first time: NASA.

Data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft has revealed what appear to be giant dust storms in equatorial regions of Saturn's moon Titan. The discovery, described in a paper published on Sept. 24 in Nature Geoscience, makes Titan the third Solar System body, in addition to Earth and Mars, where dust storms have been observed.

It seems like the dust and "sand" from the hydrocarbon dunes at the equator can be kicked up by strong winds, which would then transport it over great distances.



Question regarding the above illustration: would Saturn be at all visible from Titan's surface? I was under the impression that Titan's atmosphere is completely opaque.

[marsbug]

A paper in Science raises two intriguing ideas. The first is scientific: The hydrocarbon dunes may be 'grown' from hydrocarbon ices undergoing a yet-to-be-fully-pinned-down reaction powered by cosmic rays. That could also explain their presence on airless solar system bodies. Paper here

The second is... artistic: According to Michael Malaska, who studies planetary ices at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California. "Their work further supports that some of Titan's sand may glow pretty colors under UV light," That was reported in a Space.com article, here: Bring a powerful blacklight to a dust storm on Titan and your might get some mind-blowing visuals.