14 DAY TRIAL // It just so happens that there is more to being a scientist than studying distant planets, the human body or wacky plant and animal species that we share our planet with. Mind you, brainiacs sometimes take the time to study dust particles.
Such investigations are not a complete waste of time, especially not when the dust particles in question originate from outer space. On the contrary, they can help shed new light on the formation and evolution of the cosmos.
Not to beat about the bush, it was this week that scientists working with research facilities in Japan and in the US announced the discovery of particles of comet dust in ice samples recovered from the Antarctic.
The find, hailed as a world first, is detailed in a paper in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters. Thus, it appears that these particles are the first of their kind to have so far been found not just in the Antarctic, but anywhere on Earth.
Recovering comet dust from ice in the Antarctic
The scientists who worked on this research project recovered the comet dust particles, about 40 in number, from ice samples collected at a site dubbed Tottuki Point. The samples were pulled from a depth of about 58 feet (roughly 18 meters).
As detailed by Phys Org, the comet dust particles range in size from 10 to 60 micrometers. At first, the researchers assumed that what they were dealing with was meteorite dust. However, they soon found that their particles matched comet samples obtained by NASA.
Writing in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters, the specialists who found these particles in ice in the Antarctic explain that their official name is chondritic porous interplanetary dust particles. The researchers hope that in time they will add others to their collection of about 40.
They say that, since comets are some of the oldest objects populating space, the study of dust particles originating from such celestial bodies are bound to reveal more about the formation of the Solar System, possible even shed new light on the emergence of life on Earth.
Not the first comet particles scientists have so far studied
True, the comet dust particles recovered from ice in the Antarctic are the first of their kind to have until now been found anywhere on Earth. Still, this does not mean that they are also the first scientists have until now had the chance to study.
On the contrary, dust comet particles have many times been collected by sending sticky sheets into our planet's atmosphere and then examining their catch. It was, however, believed that no comet dust particles could ever reach the surface of our planet, given the harsh conditions our atmosphere subjects all Earth visitors to.
