These fascinating linear dunes at Meroe Patera were also identified in Context Camera images, which have developed in a sand starved region of the dune field, elongating from behind a scarp.

Star dunes make up just under 10% of the dunes in Earth's deserts and are the tallest ones, surpassing other types such as crescent-shaped barchan dunes and straight and lengthy linear dunes.

Credit: NASA Linear Sand Dunes On March 25, 2013, an astronaut aboard the International Space Station took this photo of the Great Sandy Desert in northwest Australia, showcasing linear dunes ...

Star dunes are common, but scientists have long wondered about their formation and puzzling absence in the geological record. Now, research has revealed new clues.

It Lasted a Few Days. Residents who live on Salisbury Beach, a seaside community in northern Massachusetts, paid for the sand dunes to protect their beachfront homes from storms. Then a storm came.

Using radar scans and analysis of sand grains buried deep inside the star dune, scientists mapped the mound’s internal structure. The researchers calculated that the oldest part of the dune’s ...