This is entirely too cool!
So, I was reading a post at the always-inspiring blog the moveable alphabet. The beginning of the post was about magnets, which we’ve kinda done to death, but at the end, there was a link to this: The-Hunt-for-Micrometeorites which I showed to JBug and we were both blown away at how very cool it was, so naturally we grabbed our magnets and headed outside for a micrometeorite hunt of our own.
As per directions, we dutifully sifted through the dirt at the bottom of our rain gutters, running our magnets through it all in hopes of finding those tiny silver space-spheres. We also tried sidewalk cracks and roadside deposits.
I actually held out little hope of finding anything. See, our soil is very sandy and course, and the directions stated that this works best in fine soil. Plus, we were picking up large chunks of iron-rich debris of some sort that was clogging up our magnets. But, we dutifully stuck our findings to a sticky note, put the note under our microscope, and commenced the search for the tiny silver spheres that meant we’d found our space-traveling quarry.
After long hard look which produced nothing more than a major headache I gave up.
JBug, undaunted, persisted.I have to give her credit, she was not easily discouraged.
And guess what! Success! She actually found some!
Here is the picture I took using the highly sophisticated method of sticking my point-and-shoot up to the microscope eyepiece and hoping for the best.
See the tiny silver ball sitting just above the big grey chunk-o-junk?
That is a real-live micrometeorite, folks, straight from outer-space! Shazam!! Now, how cool is that?
Way to go, JBug! You rock!
Now I don’ know…. that might just be the coolest thing ever.
I can’t wait to run over there and see what it’s all about.
Trev would go crazy for this one, I’m thinking.
Amazing! We are going to have to get some better magnets and try this as well.
That is really cool. We’re starting an astronomy study in a few weeks. We’ll definitely be trying this out.
That is so freakin’ cool! I think we’re going to have to try this ASAP! Thanks for sharing!
Wow!! I can’t say more…
And thank you for the link to the moveable alphabet, it’s a interesting site.
That is soooo incredible! I’m awestruck.
JBug, I’m calling Capt Hal right now to tell him what you found!
Wow, very impressive!
Wow! That’s so neat – and something my space-loving boys would find very cool
I couldn’t get the 2nd link to work, though?
This is very cool and I know my boy would love to give it a try!
That is so cool. I am saving this for when my kids are old enough to be interested.
We tried this over the weekend for our Super Science Saturday with dh.
We found tons on the first pass through a driveway crack. Way cool!! My dc were thrilled, Thanks!
okay this is too too cool. we need a microscope!
THAT IS SO COOL!!! I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE IT!!!!!
OH MY WORD! Thankyou for blogging this!
Dear La Paz Home Learning, and enthusiastic comments:
If you are interested in micrometeorites – yes, they can be found practically everywhere! – you are welcome to visit our new micrometeorite community on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=hp#!/pages/Project-Stardust-Jon-Larsen/196022003753026?sk=wall
A rapidly growing database of photos, plus info – to help recognize you own findings. If you are interested in (free) hi-res photos of your micrometeorites, just send me an email: project.stardust@getmail.no
But most of all, enjoy your continous hunt for these exotic messengers from outer space – the micrometeorites.
Sincerely yours,
PROJECT STARDUST
Jon Larsen
Facebook: “PROJECT STARDUST – Jon larsen”