On the Trail of Stardust

The Guide to Finding Micrometeorites: Tools, Techniques, and Identification

This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
Buy on Amazon Buy on BN.com Buy on Bookshop.org
*This page contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on our site at no additional cost to you.
Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app

1
To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
2
Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.
Pub Date 16 Apr 2019 | Archive Date 30 May 2019

Talking about this book? Use #OnTheTrailOfStardust #NetGalley. More hashtag tips!


Description

On the Trail of Stardust puts the heavens in your hands—in the form of cosmic dust, or micrometeorites. With this handy guide from the author of the international bestseller In Search of Stardust, Jon Larsen, you will learn how to find micrometeorites in your own neighborhood!

Stardust—also known as micrometeorites—is the oldest matter anywhere. Nothing has traveled farther to reach Earth. For a century, scientists have searched everywhere for stardust, but only found it in remote areas like Antarctica and, more recently, outer space. Author and citizen scientist extraordinaire Jon Larsen was the first to find them in populated areas. With this book, you too can discover stardust as near as your own rooftop!

Following his successful debut, In Search of Stardust, Larsen turns his attention from explaining the formation and various kinds of stardust to revealing his methods and techniques for finding micrometeorites in a compact, durable guide. Larsen covers everything from the origins and formation of micrometeorites to assembling the simple array of gear needed to get out there and find stardust in your own neighborhood, rooftop, or rain gutters.

Larsen explains the best places to look and offers step-by-step photo sequences of the techniques he has developed to assemble his collection of 1,500-plus verified micrometeorites (and counting). And you don’t need a multi-million-dollar scanning electron microscope to document your collection; Jon shows how to assemble a serviceable photo setup from easily accessible equipment.

The book is capped off with a field guide of sorts that offers a taxonomy of the various types of micrometeorites, along with sample images, as well as the kinds of man-made and terrestrial spherules that stardust hunters are likely to encounter and how to identify them as imposters.

Once thought to exist only at the bottoms of oceans and atop polar ice, it turns out that stardust is everywhere…and On the Trail of Stardust is your indispensable tool to finding it for yourself.
On the Trail of Stardust puts the heavens in your hands—in the form of cosmic dust, or micrometeorites. With this handy guide from the author of the international bestseller In Search of Stardust...

Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9780760364581
PRICE $19.99 (USD)
PAGES 144

Average rating from 8 members


Featured Reviews

"On the Trail os Stardust" will be a great addition to our library. I"ll be recommending this one to our patrons. Also, just in time for our SRP.

Was this review helpful?

This book is a great introduction to the somewhat mysterious realm of micrometeorite hunting. The book is split into five sections, with a main focus during the beginning of the book on setting the scene, what micrometeorites are and how you can find them for yourself at home - you're likely to have most of the equipment needed already! Everyone can be a micrometeorite hunter with this handy guide. It's a small, compact and easy to handle guidebook.

I really enjoyed the easy to follow guide on how to find micrometeorites for myself, and the extensive image reference guide for each different type of particle that might commonly be found using the method described by Larsen. It would be invaluable to have next to your microscope ready to consult when needed.

My only slight grumble comes from the repeated text which appears on a couple of occasions. We see text repeated on the page, once accompanying an image and once in the main body of the text.

Overall I think this book is a wonderful introduction into a potentially deep hobby or new area of scientific interest. If the text alone doesn't inspire you to sift through the dirt to find your own micrometeorites, then the stunning images will.

*This book was provided in PDF format as an ARC through NetGalley in return for a fair review.

Was this review helpful?

This book is fascinating to me. I hope every university library and public library will buy this book. It’s a fabulous reference book, and I’m happy that I know about it as a resource for my students who want to learn more and write about stardust. The photographs are beautiful, and I appreciate that a list of further reading and a good index are included in the book.

Was this review helpful?

On The Trail of Stardust is an in the look off finding space matter in your own area. Jon Larsen teaches you to find stardust and micrometorites in your own backyard. I really enjoyed learning about the different kinds of substances. The pictures are beautiful.

While I am not interested in picking this up as a hobby, I enjoyed learning about the subject.

Was this review helpful?

Finally we got it! Last year's book "In search for stardust" just demonstrated the world that micrometeorites hunting is for real, now we have all the information to join the hunt!
It is a very clear step-by-step guide. It is divided in 5 sections. In the first you can find an introduction to the micrometeorites world. In the second, all you need to collect your samples (a few things that you probably already have at home). In the third, how to manage your samples collection. In the fourth, how to find your cosmic jackpot needles in the dirt haystack.. The final section helps you to verify that your find is indeed a meteorite and not some weird industrial byproduct, to photograph your trophy, and make real science.
That is the real message: you can really do real science, finding cosmic material formed possibly billion of years ago around other stars, and it is easy. What else to say: well, me too I got hold of a couple of sieves and a microscope and I am collecting material. I hope to join the cosmic hunters' club very soon.

Was this review helpful?

On the Trail of Stardust describes the methods for finding and identifying specks of stardust, or micrometeorites. These little stones are found everywhere on Earth, and anyone can collect them!

"Searching for stardust is an exciting and interesting hobby. At the same time, it is cutting-edge science."

This is a very new field of science, but also a very accessible one. You don't need to understand much science to do this. In fact, scientists don't have all the answers yet, and amateur micrometeorite collections can potentially help understand where the stardust comes from.
All you need to get started are some basic tools and a decent microscope. This book is a great resource to start collecting, but also fun just to read if you're interested in micrometeorites.
The book is beautifully illustrated, especially the high definition photographs of the micrometeorites were amazing to see. They are very beautiful.

Was this review helpful?

Well documented and illustrated, this book is a must to have for any geologist or any astronomist. The book covers some techniques and historical facts.

#OnTheTrailOfStardust #NetGalley

Was this review helpful?

Readers who liked this book also liked: