Star Hunter

The incredible story about the discovery of the urban micrometeorites.

Between stars, planets, comets and meteorites there is cosmic dust. Every day, tons of it fall down upon us as a gentle cosmic rain of micrometeorites. But little is known about these small mineral fragments from the time before the planets were formed. Scientists gain new knowledge about the universe and the formation of our solar system from them. They are the building blocks of the universe and of life itself. We are stardust. Thousands have searched for these exotic particles for the past hundred years, but in vain. Until Jon Larsen found the missing pieces of the puzzle. And solved the mystery.

It all started a sunny day eleven years ago. Larsen was preparing breakfast outdoors when he noticed a shiny grain speck of dust on the white table. Where did it come from? The amateur mineralogist realized that this was no plant seed. It was a tiny, glistening rock. It had not been there moments earlier.

His curiosity was aroused. He learned about the star's dust for the first time, small particles that run through space at a speed of 56,000 kilometers per hour until they are slowed down by the Earth's atmosphere. For seven years he searched in ditches and roofs with magnets, filtered dust and dirt he collected in bags and studied it under the microscope. Again, and again, one thousand times and in fifty different countries. A monstrous mission: the hunt for the oldest thing we know. The scientists said that it was not possible, that the wall of terrestrial contaminants is unsurmountable. But Larsen continued to search. Until one day something unthinkable happened.

A discovery in the road dust that contradicted an entire world of scientists, NASA included. Which questioned where the water on Earth had come from and ultimately how life began. The discovery was rated by the American Discover Magazine among the hundred most important that year. A new method to get access to and identify micrometeorites - and thus make it possible for science to gain completely new knowledge about our solar system.

In Star Hunter the author takes us readers on his mission, which is an exciting chapter in the history of science. We are along the streets, on the roofs, in the face of angry scientists, and ups and downs until the unlikely happens. Star Hunteris an fantastic popular science book: anecdotal, personal and entertaining by narrator Jon Larsen. An amateur astrogeologist who surprised astronomers all over the world and a self-taught layman who succeeded in something the experts at NASA had failed to do.

Today Jon Larsen is studying micrometeorites as a scientific researcher at the University of Oslo (UiO) in contact with all the foremost experts in this field, including NASA. He is a popular lecturer and through his Project Stardust on Facebook a dynamo in the international micrometeorite community with daily updates of new stardust photos and info.

Star Hunter is a non-fiction book in English, 320 pages (16 pages illustrations in color), 15 x 21 cm, soft cover. Translations available in German and Norwegian.