My interest in micrometeorites began with the fact that they have high iron content to which they are easily attracted to magnets. Because rain, snow, and hail need some particle � ��" a solid particle, dust is typical, micrometeorites or chemical substances in the atmosphere form droplets, and for study, micrometeorites are typically gathered in a wide plastic basin as it rains.
A magnet then is used to sort the extremely small, iron-containing particles from other debris that comes with the rain. What is attracted to the magnet is just barely visible to the naked eye, passed through a filter (I use a plastic-mesh coffee filter) and put it under my 50x and 200x lenses.
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When I started this hobby, I wasn't familiar with the � ���"basin-gathering� �� � technique nor just how (un)common they are, so thinking I could find micrometeorites practically anywhere, I went to the recreational area and gathered with a magnet from a surface area of perhaps only two square yards some of what you see above and in images 1, 2, and 3. The six points of light is the light-source for my digital microscope, six LED's (light-emitting diodes) arranged in a circle.
I haven't counted all the spheres from the two square yards at the open, exposed-to-the-sky, football field, but would easily estimate around 100 of these spheres in only one sample.
Upon recommendation from two technicians of the local planetarium, I sent the images to the physics professor at the university who specializes in the analysis of micrometeorites, and was I disappointed � ��" not from his reply, but as to the likely sources of these spheres"
He wrote (translation below) that 99.9% of these objects are from man-made sources - typically coal-powered electrical generation plants, metal foundries, and high-temperature ovens.
In other words (and from a different point of view), this is the pollution that we read about, but are rarely, if ever, shown � ��" particulate contamination, some (much? most?) of which comes from coal-burning power plants.
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