Tag

Micrometeorites

All articles tagged with #micrometeorites

space7 days ago•11 min saved

Apollo Moonprints: Here for Millions of Years, Not Forever

Apollo bootprints pressed into the Moon’s dry, airless regolith are expected to persist for about ten million years due to the lack of wind, water, and atmosphere. Slow erosion from micrometeorite impacts, solar wind, and extreme temperature cycling will eventually erase them, but NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter shows the sites remain intact from orbit. Future crewed or robotic activity near the sites could disturb the footprints, and there are protections being used to preserve the Apollo landing areas.

via Space Daily|

#apollo #footprints #lunar-regolith

science1 month ago•10 min saved

Apollo Bootprints Might Endure for a Million Years on the Moon

The Moon’s windless, waterless environment preserves Apollo bootprints for a very long time, with LRO imagery showing tracks decades after the landings. However, slow erosion from micrometeorite impacts and a process called impact gardening gradually churns the top few centimeters of regolith, meaning there’s no precise expiry date for a single print. A million-year timescale is plausible but not guaranteed, and some experts estimate traces could fade over tens to hundreds of millions of years. In any case, the landing-site marks will outlast nearly all human-made structures while slowly disappearing on geological timescales.

via Space Daily|

#apollo #erosion #micrometeorites

space1 month ago•11 min saved

Urban gutters hide Earth's cosmic dust: rooftop micrometeorites revealed

Earth is continually showered with extraterrestrial material, mostly micrometeorites smaller than sand; estimates place about 5,200 tonnes reaching the surface annually (with ~15,000 tonnes entering the atmosphere in total), while larger meteorites are far rarer. Urban rooftops have become a surprising source of recent micrometeorites thanks to citizen scientists and researchers; distinguishing genuine cosmic grains from urban debris requires lab analysis of chemical signatures rather than magnetism. Rooftop collections provide timely reference samples that complement Antarctic and deep-sea records, showing cities have always collected space dust—it's just now easier to find real grains amid the noise.

via Space Daily|

#cosmic-spherules #meteorite-flux #micrometeorites

space2 months ago•74 min saved

Millennium-Old Micrometeorite Swarm Scratched Ryugu's Surface

New analysis of Hayabusa2 samples shows Ryugu bears a nanometer-thick sodium layer on its surface, evidence of recent micrometeorite bombardment as the asteroid moved through a dense meteoroid swarm about 1,000 years ago; researchers also found glassy impact features and solar-wind–related iron changes, with findings published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

via Space|

#hayabusa2 #micrometeorites #ryugu

space3 months ago•77 min saved

Artemis 2's Moon Flyby Triggers NASA Cheers After Unexpected Micrometeor Impacts

During Artemis 2’s far-side lunar flyby, astronauts observed multiple micrometeorite impacts on the Moon, prompting audible cheers from NASA’s Science Evaluation Room; scientists were surprised by the frequency of impacts and will study the flashes to better understand the lunar environment, noting a solar eclipse during closest approach and marking the first crewed lunar-spaceflight since Apollo 17.

via Space|

#artemis-2 #lunar-flyby #micrometeorites

astronomyplanetary-science2 years ago•6 min saved

"Scientists Hunt for Space Dust on English Cathedral Roofs"

Scientists are scouring the roofs of English cathedrals, such as Canterbury Cathedral, for cosmic dust particles known as micrometeorites. These tiny particles, which likely originate from comets and asteroids, provide valuable insights into the chemistry of asteroids and meteorites, as well as Earth's history and changes over time. Researchers are using vacuum cleaners to collect thousands of dust particles in the hopes of finding minuscule cosmic spherols, and are also exploring the potential influence of cosmic dust on Earth's chemistry and early prebiotic chemistry. The abundance of urban micrometeorites is opening up planetary science to a wider audience and providing a snapshot of the different processes and bodies in outer space.

via The Guardian|

#astronomyplanetary-science #canterbury-cathedral #cosmic-dust

science-and-technology2 years ago•1 min saved

Scientists Investigate Canterbury Cathedral Roof for Cosmic Dust

Scientists from the University of Kent are conducting a search for cosmic dust on the roof of Canterbury Cathedral in order to gather information about the origins of the solar system. The cathedral's inaccessible roof provides an undisturbed site for collecting micrometeorites, which are dust-sized particles that have made it through the Earth's atmosphere. This new approach of exploring UK cathedrals, due to their age and detailed records, offers an alternative to remote locations like Antarctica or ocean floors where cosmic dust has been previously searched for. The project will extend to other cathedrals, starting with Rochester Cathedral in Kent.

via BBC|

#canterbury-cathedral #cosmic-dust #micrometeorites