Seven tiny motes can clarify the origin of the solar system

The Stardust project is one of the longest and most complex in the world of science. Back in 1999, a small Stardust spacecraft was sent into space. Its name reflects the main purpose for which the probe was launched: to collect samples of interstellar dust, and deliver the collected to Earth. The first mission of the device was to approach the comet Wild 2 and collect samples of matter in its tail.

After the comet, the probe continued its mission, and successfully collected samples of cosmic dust. It is clear that the dust was not collected in a paper bag: an airgel collector was used to collect samples of the substance, and if it entered, the microparticles remained intact. According to scientists, these microparticles are the oldest trace of the evolution of our solar system and the galaxy as a whole. Investigation of samples of interstellar dust can clarify how the formation of the solar system, the emergence of stars, and many other questions took place.
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Stardust collected dust until 2006, the device has traveled a length of 3 billion kilometers. Then Stardust passed close to Earth, dropping a capsule with trapped dust (the capsule fell in Utah). When falling, the collector itself was not damaged, but the airgel inside was there, so the scientists had to solve the problem of working from the damaged airgel surface. This problem has been resolved successfully.


Here is the collector (diameter - about 30 centimeters)

After that, scientists began to scan individual sections of airgel, and the scanning was carried out in layers, starting from the surface of the gel, and ending with the "bottom" of the cell. After scanning, it turned out that in the hands of scientists - more than 700 thousand series of images of each section (the number of individual photos exceeded several million). The work on the study of interstellar matter was complicated, since the photographs recorded not only "dust", but also damage to the airgel.



In general, the scientists had to do a lot of work, which they could not cope with in the foreseeable future. Therefore, it was decided to involve the public in the work. For this purpose, the project “Stardust @ home” was organized, where, after initial preparation, any interested person could begin work on the detection of samples of interstellar matter.


Traces of particles entering the airgel

Only now, in 2014, the preliminary results of all this gigantic work were published (work is still ongoing, only 77 airgel plates are checked, 55 are left). The project involved more than 30 thousand volunteers, in addition to scientists from NASA . When detecting something in which the volunteer suspected the desired sample, the photo was tagged. After that, the photograph was carefully studied by scientists, followed by a study of the sample, which was photographed. To study the sample, a scanning X-ray microscope was used to obtain information on the chemical composition of the sample. Volunteers, by the way, called each other “Dusters”. Of the 30 thousand people, 714 voluntary project participants are already mentioned in scientific publications related to the Stardust project.



After a careful study of all materials, it turned out that most of the samples are microscopic particles of the apparatus itself, knocked out of the shell by micrometeorites (if these objects can be called so, of course, they are very small), colliding with the apparatus within the Solar System. These particles are easy to detect because there is a lot of aluminum in them, the “Stardust” shell is made of this metal. Traces of gas produced in the collision of the particle with the solar panels of the probe were found in the particles.



At the moment, only 7 samples have been discovered, which scientists, most likely, consider to be the interstellar substance. The size of the particles is a maximum of 2 microns (0.002mm), which is 2% of the thickness of a human hair. Nevertheless, scientists hope that such samples will be able to clarify to us the stages of the formation of the solar system. In addition, in the future, scientists hope, the remaining samples will provide additional material for research. Now study already found samples.