STARDUST IN YOUR EYES

By

Phillip "F." Enger

Would you like to help in an exciting, groundbreaking project of hunting for stardust? You can participate by searching for these smaller-than-dust grains from your own home, while sitting in your favorite chair, and using your own computer.

In 1999 the Stardust spacecraft was launched. It carried a bizarre particle collector made of a material called aerogel. Aerogel is a solid, glassy nanofoam that weights next to nothing but has the magical property of being able to capture particles traveling at velocities of several miles per second; particles that would vaporize if they hit any other material.

The Stardust spacecraft raised its collectors into the interstellar dust stream and in January 2004 flew through the tail of comet Wild2.

In January 2006, the spacecraft parachuted a return capsule onto the Utah desert. Embedded in the aerogel inside the capsule were the first particles ever captured in space and brought to earth.

However, before scientists can study these stardust particles they must find them.

And here's where you can help!

Locating the particles with human eyes and the microscopes available would take forever and a day (maybe twenty years). But, with people from all over the world helping, including many from the Your Hub area, search time can be considerably reduced.

As a result, project scientists at the University of California, Berkeley have designed a home-search system to let you search for stardust. All you need is a computer, a browser and a desire to play an exciting role in space science.

The system should be available in May, and requires a little objective, on-line training, passing a test, and using a virtual microscope, on your computer, to locate holes or tracks left by particles in the aerogel. (You seldom find a particle). You can scan as many photos as you like.

Several hundred people recently tested the system and found the training takes only a few minutes, and that almost any one should be able to pass the test.

So watch for the invitation to join the search and enjoy being a space science detective.