Pop-science about micrometeorites and how to find them. The solar system is a dusty place. Every day approximately 100 metric tons of cosmic dust collides with Earth, mainly in the form of micrometeorites. It is the oldest matter there is and nothing has travelled further. Most of these mineral particles are smaller than grains of sand, and they are falling down upon us all the time and all over the globe, as a gentle cosmic rain. Still, little is known about these exotic extraterrestrials. It took the author seven years to identify all the various terrestrial spherules, read the full story in the new book Star Hunter.
In Search of Stardust has separate chapters about how to recognize spherules from welding, asphalt, coal combustion, fireworks, mineral wool, lightning, volcanos, ablation spherules, etc. This is the book you need to identify your own findings of terrestrial spherules in the urban dust.
Author Jon Larsen shows readers how and where to look for micrometeorites, explains the history of micrometeoritics, and offers chapters about micrometeorite formation, classification, and analysis. Thanks to Larsen's work, for the first time it is now possible for anyone to distinguish the extraterrestrial particles from the terrestrial.
For more than a century it was believed these incredible space objects could be found only in pristine, unsullied environs like Antarctica and ocean floors. Larsen became the first to break the code and find micrometeorites in populated areas – in fact, they can be found in the nearest rain gutter. In the book Larsen explains how anyone with a bit of inexpensive equipment can find their own micrometeorites by recognizing the anthropogenic spherules.
Meteorite hunting has become a popular interest, and after the release of this book the hunt for micrometeorites has become a new branch of meteoritics. Join the hunt for the extraterrestrial In Search of Stardust.
In Search of Stardust is a photo book with English text, large format (23 x 23,5 cm), hard cover, 152 pages and 1,500 illustrations.
