Canterbury Cathedral is one of the oldest and most celebrated Christian construction in England . It ’s the site of the blackwash of archbishop Thomas Becket and the destination of the pilgrims in Geoffrey Chaucer’sCanterbury taradiddle . A pair of scientists saw something extra about this historic construction . It has a magnanimous old roof – the perfect hunting place for cosmic dust .
Dr Penny Wozniakiewicz and Dr Matthias van Ginneken study micrometeorites , the modest sherd of cosmic dust that make their way from distance to Earth . analyse this material helps us understand both what theSolar Systemis like around our planet and also far beyond it .
“ I ’m really interested in learn more about how much dust is arriving at Earth . I actually count at junk both in infinite and on the Earth ’s surface,”Dr Wozniakiewicz , from the University of Kent , told IFLScience .
The literal impact of tiny and less tiny micrometeorites is clearly visible on this portion of solar cells that used to fly on the Hubble Space Telescope.Image courtesy of Dr Penelope Wozniakiewicz
“ We study the open of these spacecraft and you ’ll recover that they have minuscule pits all over them and they ’re formed by impacting particles – detritus grains that are come in , and they ’re number in at really high speeds , and they basically make these wallop craters over the surface of ballistic capsule . A really good example would be solar cubicle from the Hubble Space Telescope . They ’ve been brought back twice now , and they ’ve been search for these impacts on them . ”
Between 20,000 and 40,000 heaps ofcosmic dustarrive at our planet , but not all of this can make it to the Earth’s surface . A lot of it combust in the atmosphere . A few piece make it through whole , and some others are melted and turn into tiny petty spheres . In these spherule , there are cosmic compounds that might reveal where they originated .
“ Most of my work has been looking for the parent bodies of cosmic debris , essentially where this dust comes from in space,”Dr van Ginnekenexplained to IFLScience . “ We think that the vast majority of these micrometeorites come from asteroid . Each impact between asteroid probably produces a mammoth amount of dust . And this dust , due to processes like the effect of solar rays , will turn a loss momentum and will begin spiral towards the Sun . Some of this dust will cross the orbit of the Earth and cease up as micrometeoroid . But we do n’t roll in the hay precisely the tie-in between cosmic dust , meteorites , and asteroids . ”
To answer all the unknowns about cosmic dust , like how much survives the atmosphere and where it comes from , scientists take to get hold sample . regrettably , micrometeorites are not bright neon vividness , and do n’t have a sign that say " here I am " . Once researcher get the junk , they sift through the stuff from human or terrestrial activity and then get a few samples ofmicrometeorites . You need a luck of rubble to find out a significant sampling . And so the team quite literally looked at Canterbury Cathedral .
“ Ideally you need a declamatory ceiling and you require an old roof , because the older the more meter it had to accumulate textile from quad , so the more probable you are to receive micrometeorites , ” Dr van Ginneken explain to IFLScience .
“ I can see the duomo from my flat . I just see the duomo and I said : this is perfect because the roof is indeed gigantic , potentially old , although the one we sampled is not that old . But there are still roof that are 120 year honest-to-god on this cathedral , so it ’s good . And then there is this whole aspect that it ’s an iconic construction , so there is kind of a poetry to it . ”
First fortify with a dustpanful and brush , and afterwards with a electric battery - power vacuity cleanser , the intrepid squad collected dust that had accumulated on the duomo ’s roof . The dust was then cleaned and searched in especial for the spherule – the mellow out micrometeorite – and stuff with magnetic iron-ore in it , as these are most potential from outer space . The researchers tell us that there is some jolly cool stuff and nonsense in planetary junk too . However , that is not the focus .
“ It ’s a case of bet for welkin and looking at the magnetized mote to try and increase our chances of bump extraterrestrial dust , ” Dr Wozniakiewicz explain .
Dr van Ginneken also went to Antarctica to collect cosmic debris . Thanks to the continent ’s isolation , it is possible to finda lot of it . But it is also severe and expensive , so the team will stay on to focalize on cathedrals in the United Kingdom . They are planning an expedition to the nearby Rochester Cathedral , and they are lick on the logistics for 13 more .
From now on , when you see the high - direct arced vaults and the flying buttresses , you could think that ancient designer created not only spectacular construction , but great receptacles for cosmic detritus .
