Scanning Electron Microscope?

Discuss your experiences with and ideas about Stardust@home here.

Moderators: Stardust@home Team, DustMods

Should they scan potential tracks with better imaging (Ex. Electron Microscope)?

Yes
7
33%
No
7
33%
Maybe
4
19%
Dont' care
1
5%
What's a Scanning Electron Microscope?
2
10%
 
Total votes: 21

marymouse
Posts: 64
Joined: Wed Aug 23, 2006 9:52 am
Location: USA

Fjgiie, I am back & Thanks, Klemek

Post by marymouse »

Fjgiie, I went to the NASA site and read everything on that news item and I am back.

Klemek, I know that's not what we're here for, and, of course, the scientists can't be going off on tangents, but since this forum is for general science discussion, when Wolter said, in air: air; in space: nothing, it popped into my head that space was not just nothing - it (maybe) contains dark matter (23% according to NASA). Also, thanks for explaining about dark matter not emitting radiation so it can't be measured that way.
fjgiie
DustMod
Posts: 1253
Joined: Sat May 20, 2006 8:47 am
Location: Hampton, SC, US

Good Article

Post by fjgiie »

Hi marymouse,

And the article was very informative wasn't it ? We hear sometimes about dark matter and I do not know what that is. So anything we can find out about it is great.

Thanks for comming back, and now you may jump all over me when I make a mistake. (once only please) :)

23 % aye?

Thanks,

fjgiie
jsmaje
Posts: 616
Joined: Tue Aug 15, 2006 8:39 am
Location: Manchester UK

Post by jsmaje »

Re aerogel:
Wolter wrote:It's porous so nothing wil expand or blow-up in vacuum.
Its volume is 99.8 percent empty, so in air: perhaps filled with air, in space: just nothing there
Right. Two questions then arise - just how quickly does the air diffuse out when in space, and back in on return? And if the collector is now full of air again, would the chemical composition of star dust (as perhaps measured by electron beam instruments, mentioned above by arsampson) be altered by oxidation? Would it matter :?:

Re dark matter:
fjgiie wrote:We hear sometimes about dark matter and I do not know what that is
I reckon we've seen quite a lot of it already, only the Berkely team insist on calling it 'inclusions' :!:
Nikita
DustMod
Posts: 994
Joined: Wed May 17, 2006 8:33 pm
Location: Indiana, USA

Post by Nikita »

jsmaje wrote:I reckon we've seen quite a lot of it already, only the Berkely team insist on calling it 'inclusions' :!:
If only it were that simple!
Icebike had some great links about dark matter here:
http://stardustathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/ ... c&start=15
See page 2. These links also have more links that give more information on it. We should probably continue the dark matter discussion on the Other Space News thread in the Community Forum so that we are posting in approprate places.
Dark matter...I can't help but think of Darth Vader when I hear it!
From dust we come
jsmaje
Posts: 616
Joined: Tue Aug 15, 2006 8:39 am
Location: Manchester UK

Post by jsmaje »

Nikita wrote:
jsmaje wrote:I reckon we've seen quite a lot of it already, only the Berkely team insist on calling it 'inclusions' :!:
If only it were that simple!
Hang on, I was only joking :!: :lol:
Nikita
DustMod
Posts: 994
Joined: Wed May 17, 2006 8:33 pm
Location: Indiana, USA

Post by Nikita »

Yeah, I know, I should have put a smiley on that!
I just included the links because I though it was cool.

Sorry!
From dust we come
jsmaje
Posts: 616
Joined: Tue Aug 15, 2006 8:39 am
Location: Manchester UK

Post by jsmaje »

fjgiie wrote:When the Aerogel goes into the vacuum of space, I wonder if the air inside expanding contributes to the brittleness of that material. I wonder if the expanding air ruptures the foam, or just gradually leaks out without damage?
Just found this about the MIR collector: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc97/pdf/1385.PDF, where they say that the platinum retainer wires were found to be stretched, probably because "...entrained air in the aerogel could not escape quickly enough to equalise the internal and rapidly decreasing external pressures during launch, thus causing the aerogel to bulge and the wires to stretch".

Apparently it was without other structural problems, at least to visual inspection.
sub212
Posts: 48
Joined: Fri Aug 18, 2006 4:27 pm

time waste

Post by sub212 »

Everyone is aware that getting samples into an EVACUATED sem takes ages, right?
jsmaje
Posts: 616
Joined: Tue Aug 15, 2006 8:39 am
Location: Manchester UK

Post by jsmaje »

sub212 wrote:Everyone is aware that getting samples into an EVACUATED sem takes ages, right?
Ages? How long would that actually be? Excuse me, I'm totally ignorant about this technique. Or (doh!) do you mean it's evacuated after the sample's put in?

Whatever, it doesn't seem to have stopped them using the SEM: http://www.astrobio.net/news/article1879.
Wolter
DustMod
Posts: 457
Joined: Mon May 22, 2006 2:23 am
Location: Enkhuizen, the Netherlands

Post by Wolter »

This is comet dust after extraction from the aerogel array.

The IS particals are all still in the array and waiting to be discovered.
Just dusting... Image
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