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Re: (meteorobs) Collecting Micrometeorites?

Wayne;
            Several years ago I attended a lecture at CalTech on this very subject.  I do not remember
how the speaker was collecting them but it must have required sophisticated equipment or I would have
remembered, but one of his graduate students did it in a manner that I do remember.  She put a child's
plastic wading pool on top of one of the tallest buildings filled with water.  I don't think they
described how she removed them from the pool, but I presume she used some system like the one used to
suck water from the floor of an aquarium for cleaning and a filter.  I know she was doing quite well
with the experiment till an eager janitor thought it was trash and threw it away.  8-)  I do think it
is important to get it as far above the ground as possible because of dust near the ground.  All of
the micro photos he showed of them were small black spiracles.  I thought about using a kite for this
purpose but the collecting would be a problem.  Net filter or fly paper concepts?  It also would
require steady winds which we don't have here down South.  In fact we don't have any wind at all or it
is blowing 80 miles an hour.
    I hope this is of some help to you.  If you continue to pursue this project, keep the meteorobs
informed. Good Luck Wayne.
                                                                            Clear skies and good
seeing             Robert Gardner
Wayne Watson wrote:

> As I recall, one can find small meteorite particles. I think this is how one goes about finding
> them:
>
> During a meteor shower, small meteorite particles fall to the ground. They are called
> micrometeorites, and are composed of iron and nickel. This is a good time to collect them. Sunday
> might have been better. Take a clean plastic bucket outside and place it on a table or high stand
> away from the house. You don't want small particles falling off the roof or getting kicked up from
> the ground into the bucket. Wait for a day or two to see what you collect. What should you expect?
> Small dark particles. They may be close to invisible Use a magnet to pick them up from inside the
> bucket.
>
> Comments?
>
> --
>             Wayne T. Watson (121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N, 2,701 feet)
>
>                     This day and age we're living in,
>                     Gives cause for apprehension.
>                     With speed and new invention
>                     And things like fourth dimension.
>                                 ...
>                     You must remember this,
>                     a kiss is still a kiss,
>                     A sigh is just a sigh;
>                     The fundamental things apply,
>                     As time goes by.
>                       -- A romantic physicist? Nope ...
>                          Herman Hupfeld, from As Time Goes By
>
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