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Re: (meteorobs) An Image of a Micrometeorite?
Thanks for the information. It sounds like you really went at it. Where does one get the journal and
news that you mention? How long after the peak of a shower did you look? I take it that you do not
have any images on a web site?
"Gary W. Kronk" wrote:
> I got into this myself about 5 years or so. I had read articles in
> two publications that inspired me. They are as follows:
>
> Kapral, Charles A., The Journal of the Association of Lunar and
> Planetary Observers, vol. 36 (1993 Feb.), pp. 176-8.
> Christy, Darwin P., Meteor News, No. 104 (Spring 1994), pp. 1-4.
>
> I bought a fairly good microscope from Edmunds Scientific and used
> the technique the articles suggested of putting a double-well
> microscope slide outside for 24-hour periods. I only looked at the
> slide if there was no rain, snow, or winds, as I only wanted the
> particles that were settling to the surface. Based on two photographs
> in the Meteor News article and descriptions in both, I carefully
> scanned the slides looking for suspect particles. I kept good records
> for about 5 months, but a string a bad weather at the time of the
> 1996 Perseids prevented me from getting the data I had been looking
> forward to. In addition, my books began taking more of my time and a
> particular incident knocked the wind out of my sails.
>
> I got all excited on May 4, 1996. I got home from work, grabbed the
> slide, and began scanning. Up to that time, the highest number of
> particles I had ever found on one slide was 9. On this occasion, I
> only counted the particles in one of the two wells on the slide and
> that one well contained 257 spherical particles. Were these particles
> from the Eta Aquarid meteor shower? I put the slide into an enclosed
> container and carefully took it to work the next day. I work at a
> university medical school and am friends with many of the scientists
> in the medical labs. I went to a Neurosurgeon's lab who is very
> interested in astronomy and we sat down at one of the high powered
> microscopes. Several photographs were taken of the spherical
> particles, but most contained a feature I was not expecting--three
> little equally-spaced nodules. I was suddenly suspicious that I was
> detecting something terrestrial instead of extraterrestrial. Another
> friend at the university worked at the Missouri Botanical Gardens. I
> sent the pictures to him and personally delivered the slide. It was
> late June before the results came back. The slide was filled with
> pollen.
>
> I occasionally looked at slides into the beginning of 1997, but every
> major meteor shower was rained or snowed out either during the peak
> or in the immediate days that followed. I was never able to get the
> string of good weather I required for the experiment. Since then it
> has been difficult to find the one hour of scanning time per day to
> do this. I do hope to try the whole experiment again at a later date.
>
> Sincerely,
> Gary
>
> > > Anyone know where I can find an image of a micrometeorite on the web? I've
> >searched mighty hard to
> >> find something, but have yet to find one that has been recovered on the
> >earth's surface or
> >> atmosphere. There are pictures on the JSC NASA site that show one's
> >collected in space, but none
> >> from the earth's atmosphere. I'm looking for a URL rather than hints.
> >>
> >> --
> >> Wayne T. Watson (121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N, 2,701 feet)
> >>
> >
> >Wayne:
> >
> > I have also checked the web with few results. I suggest that you check
> >back issues of the Meteoritical Society Journal, now called MAPS. These may
> >be available in a good science library. Also an I.A.U. publication of
> >Symposium No.90, Solid Particles in the Solar System, edited by Ian Halliday
> >and B. A. McIntosh, chapter, Analysis of Interplanetary Dust Collections by
> >Brownlee et al. I know of no popular literature on this subject I'm afraid.
> >Perhaps others have suggestions! Can't help you with a web source.
> >
> >Ed Majden
> >
> >The archive and Web site for our list is at http://www.meteorobs.org
> >If you are interested in complete links on the upcoming LEONIDS, see:
> >http://www.meteorobs.org/storms.html
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>
> The archive and Web site for our list is at http://www.meteorobs.org
> If you are interested in complete links on the upcoming LEONIDS, see:
> http://www.meteorobs.org/storms.html
> To stop getting email from the 'meteorobs' list, use the Web form at:
> http://www.meteorobs.org/subscribe.html
--
Wayne T. Watson (121.015 Deg. W, 39.262 Deg. N, 2,701 feet)
"Life is complex - it has both real and imaginary parts."
-- Anonymous (A mathematician no doubt)
Web Page: http://home.earthlinkdot net/~mtnviews
Imaginarium Museum: http://home.earthlinkdot net/~mtnviews/imaginarium.html
The archive and Web site for our list is at http://www.meteorobs.org
If you are interested in complete links on the upcoming LEONIDS, see:
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