Comet dust found on the surface of the Earth … – Trends 21

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Researchers from Japan and USA. Found comet dust particles on the surface of the Earth for the first time. They have been found specifically in Antarctic ice extracted in a place called Tottuki Point at a depth of 17.5 meters, Physorg magazine reports.

In an article published in the specializing Earth and Planetary Science Letters, researchers describe how they found these particles-in chondritic micrometeorites porosos- and what they learned from the analysis of the samples. According to them, these have a number of cometary components.

Find a comet material is no easy task, as this would require sending probes Rosetta- like these celestial bodies or send research aircraft into the stratosphere. It is a laborious work: several hours of flight time usually produce only a speck of dust, according to Science.

In addition, working with such small samples significantly limits the types of evidence and scientific analysis that can be performed to the material. The new finding, therefore, represents a major scientific opportunity.

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Advantages in ice

The importance of studying comet particles is that they can provide clues about how the solar system formed.
According to the authors of the research, the discovery in Antarctica (samples in greater quantity than would be extracted from the stratosphere) “could precipitate a paradigm shift in the way in which these materials are collected” .

The accumulated dust frozen continent comment has another advantage is cleaner Until now, scientists accumulated dust from comets on flat plates coated with silicone oil to trap the particles as. flies on flypaper.

As a result, the samples were contaminated by oil and organics later used for cleaning, hindering the study of organic material that could potentially contain. This issue is now overcome.

Witnesses planet formation

In 2010, a team of French scientists reported that it had found particles unusually rich in carbon comet Antarctic snow, but this is the first time it has been found most typical comet dust, and that his identity has been confirmed.

To find the samples, the researchers collected snow and ice of Antarctica for several years, since 2000. Al melt ice and filter water, collected over 3,000 micrometeorites, tiny particles from space about 10 microns in diameter.

They Analyzing these micrometeorites one by one under a stereomicroscope, for a period of five years, received more than 40 particles of comet dust features.

For a more detailed analysis also found that these particles were indistinguishable from those of comet dust collected in the stratosphere, and also samples collected from the tail of a comet by NASA’s Stardust mission, in 2006. According to the researchers collected samples “are the best witnesses we have the time of planet formation.”