Cosmic cleaners: the scientists scouring English cathedral roofs for space dust

[anfractuosity]

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/mar/17/cosmic-cathedrals-dust-rooftops-planetary-secrets-asteroids-comets

[quercusa]

There's a very cool book of photos of micrometeorites:

In Search of Stardust: Amazing Micrometeorites and Their Terrestrial Imposters

By Jon Larsen, ISBN: 9780760352649

[bryan0 → quercusa]

I recommend the Werner Herzog’s documentary “Fireball” (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fireball:_Visitors_from_Dark... ) which has a segment with Jon Larsen and his process for capturing images of micro meteorites

[OJFord]

Why the hazmat suit? It's not like they're going to contaminate the samples with space dust accidentally brought from home (or rather if they did they wouldn't care anyway - they want those particles not specifically what's on the cathedral roof)?

[anfractuosity → OJFord]

It mentions "they are protecting themselves from bird flu, possibly contained in the droppings and bird bones we see on the roof"

[OJFord → anfractuosity]

Ah, thanks

[verisimi]

> The roaring of a vacuum cleaner breaks the silence and researcher Dr Penny Wozniakiewicz, dressed in hazmat suit with a bulky vacuum backpack, carefully traces a gutter with the tube of the suction machine.

I reckon every week my house gets a load of meteorites on it. Please email to make a weekly arrangement for cleaning the, er, meteorites up. My rates are very reasonable!