YOU TOO CAN FIND MICROMETEORIC DUST IN THE GUTTERS OF YOUR HOUSE. Here is an article on the IFLSCIENCE website which tells you “How To Find Micrometeorites In Your Home”. You too can find dust that existed before the creation of the Sun in the gutter of your house.
The IFLSCIENCE article tells how to use a magnet (use a good magnet) to pick up dust particles, how to use ziplock sandwich bags to sort the dust, how to sieve the dust, and how to use a microscope to identify the micrometeoric dust. The trick to identifying whether dust is a micometeorite is to learn to identify the markings which reflect the journey of the dust through space. The Economist article says: “Micrometeorites melt as they zip through Earth’s atmosphere at speeds of around 12km a second. The globules then cool into spherical grains, and the minerals of which these are composed take on a distinctive stripy appearance.” An accompanying picture shows the markings.
Jon Hansen has started a project to encourage others to search for micrometeorites. This Facebook page has a number of photos of micrometeorites.
The name of Jon Larsen’s project is Project Stardust.