𝚂𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚜 𝚊 𝚜𝚎𝚊 𝚘𝚏 𝚜𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚞𝚗𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚊𝚕𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚌𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚜𝚝 Dr Ralph Lorenz
Living in Dubai for the last 16 years, dunes are common ground and seeing the odd dune appear amongst the many high rises of Dubai stirs nostalgic thoughts about the desert plains that once occupied this Arabian realm.
This Earthly scene segues into Sunday's discussion, where we explore dunes of a different kind discovered on Titan.
Thick, hazy skies hampered any chance of geological joy for planetary scientists. Since the disappointing encounter with Titan from Voyager 1, enormous efforts followed to ensure a successful rendezvous with this satellite.
Decades of disappointment turned to determination. With international efforts from 18 different countries, the legendary space Cassini-Huygen mission was born and became "The toast of Titan!" after delivering a feast of fascinating data.
The discovery of dunes on Titan in 2005 by the Cassini Spacecraft marks one of the many moments when history books were radically re-written. And when I composed Titan's story to include the dunes, it had a double dose of poetic charm and inspiration. And here's why;
The surrounding region of Dubai had recently been a filming site for the STAR WARS saga, and it also happens to be an area of extensive study for scientists to understand the nature of what may be occurring on a moon in our very own solar system.
Scientists often frequent the deserts of Arabia to observe the physical processes as analogues for Titan's dunes. Through a SETI talk by Dr Ralph Lorenz, I learned that the dunes on Titan were a huge surprise to the team.
As a composer, I wanted to create that same element of surprise when experiencing Titan's sea of dunes just like the scientists, to help re-enact the amazement upon their discovery.
So from the sunny shores of Arabia to a scintillating satellite in our outer solar system, Sunday seemed the perfect day to experience a Sea of Sand dunes through symphony and song.
Grab a deck chair and click below for your front-row seat to experience the cosmic shores of Titan!
For Titans complete story, click on image below
Click on image above to a presentation at SETI by the outstanding planetary scientist and engineer Dr Lorenz the scientists I consulted with for Titan's story.
Ralph D. Lorenz is a planetary scientist and engineer at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab who I consulted with for this movement. His research focuses on understanding surfaces, atmospheres, and their interactions on planetary bodies, especially Titan, Venus, Mars, and Earth