This past April had quite a few rain showers that took away from the night-time viewing enjoyment.  This May is forecast to have just as many.  Even though most of the country needs to catch up on rain, that doesn't mean you need to stop doing what you enjoy.  Try collecting micrometeorites!  That's right!  Here is a neat little exercise that is fun and makes a great science class experiment.  Try collecting samples before and after major meteor showers and see what you can come up with!

Our solar system is full of miniature meteorites.  Miniature is probably not the right word to describe it.  Micro-miniature is more like it; literally.  Micro comes from the word micron which equates to one millionth of a meter or 1/25,000 of an inch.  Lets try to put that in perspective shall we?  This dot (.) is approximately 1/64th of an inch wide, or 615 microns.  The eye of a needle is around 1,300 microns.  A micrometeorite is anywhere from 2 to 100 microns.  Typically they are only a few microns in diameter.  It's true that any micrometeorite you find probably wont make a good paperweight but nonetheless they are just as exciting to find as a regular meteorite, and you will amaze your friends when you show them how smart you are by using such a scientific approach to finding and viewing your micrometeorites!  Check out the image below.  You will be lucky if you find one as big as the one pictured!


*Image Courtesy NASA

A micrometeorite has a distinctive look that can make it easily identifiable.  As they enter the atmosphere, they will have succumbed to a short lived fiery entry; as they get in through the denser atmosphere, the atmosphere will hold them aloft due to their light weight.  Storms are a good time to try collecting meteors, as they get trapped in the rain drops and fall the remaining way to earth. It's estimated that roughly 100 tons of micrometeorites enter the earth's atmosphere every day.

More micrometeorites can be found after a major meteor shower.  Try the following exercise after a meteor shower to see if you can start up your collection of micrometeorites.  Here is your bill of materials needed:

Distilled Water	Magnet	Magnifying Glass	Microscope Slides
Microscope	Large Pan	Plastic Drop-cloth	Zip-Lock Bags
Aluminum Foil	Sewing Needle

Start Collecting

Check your local forecast and when the weatherman says your in for a good shower, get your collecting items ready.

Line a large plastic pan with your plastic drop-cloth.  A plastic oil pan will work well, but generally the larger pan you can find, the better.  Make sure your plastic is new, and not dirty.  You should use new plastic each time you go micrometeorite collecting.  You want to minimize the amount of terrestrial metal you collect.  Find a wide open area to place your plastic collecting pan.  Try to stay away from building and trees.  It's also best if you can keep the pan off the ground.  An old stool will work well.

While you are waiting for the rain, you can put together your magnetic collecting mechanism.  (Please note:  The instructions herein have been painstakingly adapted from the text and instructions of major rocket-scientists.  These instructions are not for the faint-of-heart.  Please follow them closely and don't deviate from them whatsoever as your micrometeorite collecting efforts are greatly at stake!).  Put your magnet in a double-lock (zip-lock) sandwich bag and be certain the double-locking mechanism is tightly secure!  ;)  The stronger magnet you can find the better, and don't opt for the 'cheapy' zip-lock bags.  Go name-brand here!

Once the storm is over, start your collecting your samples.  Take some heavy-duty aluminum foil, and make a makeshift bowl about the size of a cereal bowl.  Slowly sweep your magnet inside the collection pan which is full of rain-water.  Spend about two minutes moving the magnet over the entire surface of the collection pan.  Don't get too discouraged.  Your micrometeorites are very very small, and it's doubtful that you will see them with the naked eye!  Now the tricky part.  Hold your magnet collector over the aluminum foil bowl, and carefully remove the magnet from the zip-lock bag.  Take some distilled water and sprinkle a small amount over both sides of the zip-lock back.  This will remove any micrometeorites that are still clinging to the outside of the bag.  Don't be too generous with your water, as you are going to need to boil the water off.

With adult supervision, place your aluminum foil bowl over the stove top.  Keep it on the stove until all the water has boiled off.  Now what's left should be your new micrometeorite collection.

Magnetize a needle by moving it across your magnet several times in the same direction.  Collect some of the samples from your bowl with the needle and put them onto a microscope slide for viewing.  A magnifying glass should be fine for the larger ones.  A microscope will work best for the smaller ones, and give you a little more detail.

Keep your best samples and they can be saved for later viewing by gluing them to the slide with some clear glue.

You undoubtedly will find different ways to collect micrometeorites.  Keep trying different things and use what works best for you. Enjoy!

*Micrometeorite image souce:http://leonid.arc.nasa.gov/leonidnews40.html

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