The mystery of stardust has been solved. Cosmic dust is the source of life in the Universe
SPACE DUST, solid particles with characteristic sizes from about 0.001 microns to about 1 micron (and, possibly, up to 100 microns or more in the interplanetary medium and protoplanetary disks), found in almost all astronomical objects: from Solar system to very distant galaxies and quasars. Dust characteristics (particle concentration, chemical composition, particle size, etc.) vary significantly from one object to another, even for objects of the same type. Stardust scatters and absorbs incident radiation. Scattered radiation with the same wavelength as the incident radiation propagates in all directions. The radiation absorbed by a speck of dust is transformed into thermal energy, and the particle usually emits in the longer wavelength region of the spectrum compared to the incident radiation. Both processes contribute to extinction - the attenuation of the radiation of celestial bodies by dust located on the line of sight between the object and the observer.
Dust objects are explored in almost the entire range electromagnetic waves- from X-ray to millimeter. The electric dipole radiation of rapidly rotating ultrafine particles seems to make some contribution to microwave radiation at frequencies of 10-60 GHz. Important role play laboratory experiments in which they measure refractive indices, as well as absorption spectra and scattering matrices of particles - analogues of cosmic dust grains, simulate the formation and growth of refractory dust grains in the atmospheres of stars and protoplanetary disks, study the formation of molecules and the evolution of volatile dust components under conditions similar to existing in dark interstellar clouds.
Cosmic dust, which is in various physical conditions, is directly studied in the composition of meteorites that have fallen to the Earth's surface, in upper layers the Earth's atmosphere (interplanetary dust and remnants of small comets), during spacecraft flights to planets, asteroids and comets (near-planetary and cometary dust) and beyond the heliosphere (interstellar dust). Ground-based and space remote observations of cosmic dust cover the Solar System (interplanetary, near-planetary and cometary dust, dust near the Sun), the interstellar medium of our Galaxy (interstellar, circumstellar and nebular dust) and other galaxies (extragalactic dust), as well as very distant objects (cosmological dust).
Space dust particles are mainly composed of carbonaceous substances (amorphous carbon, graphite) and magnesium-ferrous silicates (olivine, pyroxenes). They condense and grow in the atmospheres of stars of late spectral types and in protoplanetary nebulae, and then are ejected into the interstellar medium by radiation pressure. In interstellar clouds, especially dense ones, refractory particles continue to grow as a result of accretion of gas atoms, as well as when particles collide and stick together (coagulation). This leads to the appearance of shells of volatile substances (mainly ice) and to the formation of porous aggregate particles. The destruction of dust particles occurs as a result of sputtering in shock waves arising after supernova explosions, or evaporation in the process of star formation, which began in a cloud. The remaining dust continues to evolve near the formed star and later manifests itself in the form of an interplanetary dust cloud or cometary nuclei. Paradoxically, dust around evolved (old) stars is "fresh" (newly formed in their atmosphere), and around young stars - old (evolved as part of the interstellar medium). It is assumed that cosmological dust, possibly existing in distant galaxies, condensed in the ejections of matter after the explosions of massive supernovae.
Lit. see at Art. Interstellar dust.
There are billions of stars and planets in the universe. And if the star is a blazing sphere of gas, then planets like Earth are made up of solid elements. Planets form in dust clouds that swirl around a newly formed star. In turn, the grains of this dust are composed of elements such as carbon, silicon, oxygen, iron, and magnesium. But where do the cosmic dust particles come from? A new study from the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen shows that dust grains can not only form in giant supernova explosions, they can also survive the subsequent shockwaves of various explosions that impact the dust.
A computer generated image of how cosmic dust is formed in supernova explosions. Source: ESO / M. Kornmesser
How the stardust was formed has long been a mystery to astronomers. The dust elements themselves are formed in the glowing hydrogen gas in the stars. Hydrogen atoms combine with each other in more and more heavier elements. As a result, the star begins to emit radiation in the form of light. When all the hydrogen is depleted and it is no longer possible to extract energy, the star dies, and its shell flies into outer space, which forms various nebulae, in which young stars can again be born. Heavy elements are formed primarily in supernovae, the progenitors of which are massive stars that perish in a giant explosion. But how the single elements stick together to form stardust remained a mystery.
“The problem was that even if the dust formed along with the elements in supernova explosions, the event itself is so powerful that these small grains simply should not have survived. But cosmic dust exists, and its particles can be of completely different sizes. Our research sheds light on this problem, ”- Professor Jens Hyort, head of the Center for Dark Cosmology at the Niels Bohr Institute.
Snapshot Hubble telescope an unusual dwarf galaxy in which a bright supernova SN 2010jl originated. The picture was taken before her appearance, so the arrow shows her progenitor star. The exploding star was very massive, about 40 solar masses. Source: ESO
In space dust exploration, scientists observe supernovae with the X-shooter astronomical instrument at the Very Large Telescope (VLT) complex in Chile. It has amazing sensitivity, and three spectrographs are included in its composition. can observe the entire light range at once, from ultraviolet and visible to infrared. Hyorth explains that at first they expected the “correct” supernova explosion to appear. And so, when this happened, a campaign to observe her began. The observed star was unusually bright, 10 times brighter than the average supernova, and its mass was 40 times that of the Sun. In total, observing the star took the researchers two and a half years.
“Dust absorbs light, and using our data, we were able to calculate a function that could tell us about the amount of dust, its composition and grain size. In the results we found something really exciting. ”- Christa Gol.
The first step towards the formation of cosmic dust is a mini-explosion in which a star throws material containing hydrogen, helium and carbon into space. This gas cloud becomes a kind of shell around the star. A little more of these flashes and the shell becomes denser. Finally, the star explodes and a dense cloud of gas completely envelops its core.
“When a star explodes, the shock wave hits the dense gas cloud like a brick hitting a concrete wall. All this takes place in the gas phase at incredible temperatures. But the place where the explosion hit becomes dense and cools down to 2000 degrees Celsius. At this temperature and density, the elements can form a core and form solid particles. We found dust grains as small as one micron, which is very high for these elements. With that size, they'll be able to survive their future journey through the galaxy. ”
Thus, scientists believe that they have found an answer to the question of how cosmic dust forms and lives.
Space exploration (meteoric)dust on the surface of the earth:problem overview
A.NS.Boyarkina, L.M. Gindilis
Cosmic dust as an astronomical factor
Space dust is understood to mean solid particles ranging in size from fractions of a micron to several microns. Dusty matter is one of the important components of outer space. It fills the interstellar, interplanetary and near-earth space, penetrates the upper layers of the earth's atmosphere and falls to the Earth's surface in the form of so-called meteoric dust, being one of the forms of material (material and energy) exchange in the "Space - Earth" system. At the same time, it affects a number of processes taking place on Earth.
Dusty matter in interstellar space
The interstellar medium consists of gas and dust, mixed in a ratio of 100: 1 (by mass), i.e. the mass of dust is 1% of the mass of gas. The average density of a gas is 1 hydrogen atom per cubic centimeter or 10 -24 g / cm 3. The density of dust is, respectively, 100 times less. Despite such an insignificant density, dusty matter has a significant impact on the processes taking place in Space. First of all, interstellar dust absorbs light, because of this, distant objects located near the plane of the galaxy (where the concentration of dust is greatest) is not visible in the optical region. For example, the center of our Galaxy is observed only in the infrared, radio and X-rays. And other galaxies can be observed in the optical range if they are located far from the galactic plane, at high galactic latitudes. The absorption of light by dust leads to a distortion of the distances to stars, determined photometrically. Taking absorption into account is one of the most important problems in observational astronomy. When interacting with dust, the spectral composition and polarization of light changes.
Gas and dust in the galactic disk are unevenly distributed, forming separate gas and dust clouds, the concentration of dust in them is approximately 100 times higher than in the intercloud environment. Dense clouds of gas and dust do not let the light of the stars behind them. Therefore, they appear as dark regions in the sky, called dark nebulae. An example is the area of the "Embersack" in the Milky Way or the "Horsehead" nebula in the constellation Orion. If there are bright stars near a gas and dust cloud, then due to the scattering of light on dust particles, such clouds glow, they are called reflection nebulae. An example is the reflection nebula in the Pleiades cluster. The densest are clouds of molecular hydrogen H 2, their density is 10 4 -10 5 times higher than in clouds of atomic hydrogen. Accordingly, the density of dust is as many times higher. In addition to hydrogen, molecular clouds contain dozens of other molecules. Dust particles are the nuclei of condensation of molecules; chemical reactions with the formation of new, more complex molecules. Molecular clouds are an area of intense star formation.
In terms of composition, interstellar particles consist of a refractory core (silicates, graphite, silicon carbide, iron) and a shell of volatile elements (H, H 2, O, OH, H 2 O). There are also very small silicate and graphite particles (without a shell) in the order of hundredths of a micron. According to the hypothesis of F. Hoyle and C. Wickramasing, a significant proportion of interstellar dust, up to 80%, consists of bacteria.
The interstellar medium is continuously replenished due to the influx of matter during the ejection of stellar shells at the later stages of their evolution (especially during supernova explosions). On the other hand, she herself is the source of the formation of stars and planetary systems.
Dusty matter in interplanetary and near-earth space
Interplanetary dust is formed mainly during the decay of periodic comets, as well as the fragmentation of asteroids. Dust is formed continuously, and the process of dust grains falling on the Sun under the influence of radiation braking is also ongoing. As a result, a constantly renewing dusty environment is formed that fills the interplanetary space and is in a state of dynamic equilibrium. Its density, although higher than in interstellar space, is still very small: 10 -23 -10 -21 g / cm 3. However, it diffuses sunlight noticeably. When it is scattered on particles of interplanetary dust, such optical phenomena as zodiacal light, Fraunhofer component of the solar corona, zodiacal stripe, and antiglow appear. The zodiacal component of the glow of the night sky is also due to scattering by dust particles.
Dusty matter in the solar system is highly concentrated towards the ecliptic. In the plane of the ecliptic, its density decreases approximately proportionally to the distance from the Sun. Near the Earth, as well as near other large planets, the concentration of dust under the influence of their attraction increases. Particles of interplanetary dust move around the Sun in contracting (due to radiation deceleration) elliptical orbits. The speed of their movement is several tens of kilometers per second. When colliding with solids, including spacecraft, they cause noticeable surface erosion.
Colliding with the Earth and burning in its atmosphere at an altitude of about 100 km, cosmic particles cause the well-known phenomenon of meteors (or "shooting stars"). On this basis, they are called meteoric particles, and the entire complex of interplanetary dust is often called meteoric matter or meteoric dust. Most meteoric particles are loose bodies of cometary origin. Among them, two groups of particles are distinguished: porous particles with a density of 0.1 to 1 g / cm 3 and the so-called dust lumps or fluffy flakes resembling snowflakes with a density of less than 0.1 g / cm 3. In addition, denser particles of the asteroidal type with a density of more than 1 g / cm 3 are less common. At high altitudes, loose meteors prevail, at altitudes below 70 km - asteroidal particles with an average density of 3.5 g / cm 3.
As a result of crushing of loose meteoric bodies of cometary origin at altitudes of 100-400 km from the Earth's surface, a rather dense dusty shell is formed, the concentration of dust in which is tens of thousands of times higher than in interplanetary space. The scattering of sunlight in this shell causes the twilight glow of the sky when the sun sinks below the horizon below 100 º.
The largest and smallest meteoric bodies of the asteroidal type reach the Earth's surface. The first (meteorites) reach the surface due to the fact that they do not have time to completely collapse and burn up when flying through the atmosphere; the latter, due to the fact that their interaction with the atmosphere, due to their insignificant mass (at a sufficiently high density), occurs without noticeable destruction.
Falling out of cosmic dust on the Earth's surface
If meteorites have long been in the field of vision of science, then cosmic dust has not attracted the attention of scientists for a long time.
The concept of cosmic (meteoric) dust was introduced into science in the second half of the 19th century, when the famous Dutch polar explorer A.E. Nordenskjöld discovered dust of presumably cosmic origin on the ice surface. Around the same time, in the mid-70s of the XIX century, I. Murray described rounded magnetite particles found in the sediments of deep-sea sediments of the Pacific Ocean, the origin of which was also associated with cosmic dust. However, these assumptions have not been confirmed for a long time, remaining within the framework of the hypothesis. At the same time, the scientific study of cosmic dust progressed extremely slowly, as pointed out by Academician V.I. Vernadsky in 1941.
He first drew attention to the problem of cosmic dust in 1908 and then returned to it in 1932 and 1941. In the work "On the study of cosmic dust" V.I. Vernadsky wrote: “... The Earth is connected with cosmic bodies and with outer space not only by the exchange of different forms of energy. It is intimately connected with them materially ... Among the material bodies falling on our planet from outer space, meteorites are available to our direct study, and usually the cosmic dust that is ranked among them ... for us it is always unexpected in its manifestation ... Space dust is a different matter: everything indicates that it is falling continuously, and perhaps this continuity of falling exists at every point of the biosphere, is evenly distributed over the entire planet. It is surprising that this phenomenon, one might say, has not been studied at all and completely disappears from scientific accounting.» .
Considering in this article the known largest meteorites, V.I. Vernadsky pays special attention to the Tunguska meteorite, the search for which L.A. Sandpiper. Large fragments of the meteorite were not found, and in this regard, V.I. Vernadsky makes the assumption that he “... is a new phenomenon in the annals of science - the penetration into the area of gravity not of a meteorite, but of a huge cloud or clouds of cosmic dust traveling at cosmic speed» .
To the same topic V.I. Vernadsky returned in February 1941 in his report "On the necessity of organizing scientific work on cosmic dust" at a meeting of the Committee on Meteorites of the USSR Academy of Sciences. In this document, along with theoretical reflections on the origin and role of cosmic dust in geology and especially in the geochemistry of the Earth, he substantiates in detail the program for the search and collection of cosmic dust matter that has fallen to the Earth's surface, with the help of which, he believes, a number of problems can be solved. scientific cosmogony about the qualitative composition and "the dominant importance of cosmic dust in the structure of the Universe." It is necessary to study cosmic dust and take it into account as a source of cosmic energy that is continuously brought to us from the surrounding space. The mass of cosmic dust, noted V.I. Vernadsky, possesses atomic and other nuclear energy, which is not indifferent in its existence in Space and in its manifestation on our planet. To understand the role of cosmic dust, he stressed, it is necessary to have sufficient material for its study. The organization of the collection of cosmic dust and the scientific study of the collected material is the first task facing scientists. Promising for this purpose V.I. Vernadsky considers the natural snow and glacier plates of the high-altitude and arctic regions remote from industrial human activities.
Great Patriotic War and the death of V.I. Vernadsky, prevented the implementation of this program. However, it became relevant in the second half of the twentieth century and contributed to the intensification of studies of meteoric dust in our country.
In 1946, on the initiative of Academician V.G. Fesenkov, an expedition was organized to the mountains of the Trans-Ili Ala-Tau (Northern Tien Shan), the task of which was to study solid particles with magnetic properties in snow deposits. The snow sampling site was chosen on the left side moraine of the Tuyuk-Su glacier (altitude 3500 m); most of the ridges surrounding the moraine were covered with snow, which reduced the possibility of pollution with earth dust. It was removed from sources of dust associated with human activities, and surrounded on all sides by mountains.
The method of collecting cosmic dust in the snow cover was as follows. From a strip 0.5 m wide to a depth of 0.75 m, snow was collected with a wooden shovel, transferred and melted in aluminum cookware, poured into glassware, where a solid fraction precipitated out within 5 hours. Then the upper part of the water was drained, a new batch of melted snow was added, etc. As a result, 85 buckets of snow with a total area of 1.5 m 2 and a volume of 1.1 m 3 were melted. The resulting sediment was transferred to the laboratory of the Institute of Astronomy and Physics of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR, where the water was evaporated and subjected to further analysis. However, since these studies did not give a definite result, N.B. Divari concluded that in this case, it is better to use either very old compacted firns or open glaciers for snow sampling.
Significant progress in the study of cosmic meteoric dust came in the middle of the twentieth century, when, in connection with the launches of artificial earth satellites, direct methods of studying meteoric particles were developed - their direct registration by the number of collisions with a spacecraft or of various kinds traps (installed on satellites and geophysical rockets launched at an altitude of several hundred kilometers). Analysis of the materials obtained made it possible, in particular, to detect the presence of a dusty shell around the Earth at altitudes from 100 to 300 km above the surface (as discussed above).
Along with the study of dust using spacecraft, the study of particles in the lower atmosphere and various natural storage tanks was carried out: in alpine snows, in the ice sheet of Antarctica, in the polar ice of the Arctic, in peat deposits and deep sea silt. The latter are observed mainly in the form of so-called "magnetic balls", that is, dense spherical particles with magnetic properties. The size of these particles is from 1 to 300 microns, the mass is from 10 -11 to 10 -6 g.
Another direction is associated with the study of astrophysical and geophysical phenomena associated with cosmic dust; this includes various optical phenomena: the glow of the night sky, noctilucent clouds, zodiacal light, anti-glare, etc. Their study also allows one to obtain important data on cosmic dust. Meteor studies were included in the program of the International Geophysical Years 1957-1959 and 1964-1965.
As a result of these works, estimates of the total inflow of cosmic dust to the Earth's surface were refined. According to T.N. Nazarova, I.S. Astapovich and V.V. Fedynsky, the total inflow of cosmic dust to the Earth reaches up to 10 7 tons / year. According to A.N. Simonenko and B.Yu. Levin (according to data for 1972), the inflow of cosmic dust to the Earth's surface is 10 2 -10 9 t / year, according to other, later studies - 10 7 -10 8 t / year.
Research on the collection of meteoric dust continued. At the suggestion of Academician A.P. Vinogradov, during the 14th Antarctic expedition (1968-1969), work was carried out to identify the patterns of spatio-temporal distributions of the deposition of extraterrestrial matter in the Antarctic ice sheet. The surface layer of snow cover was studied in the areas of Molodezhnaya, Mirny, Vostok stations and in a section about 1400 km long between Mirny and Vostok stations. Snow sampling was carried out from pits 2-5 m deep at points remote from the polar stations. Samples were packed in plastic bags or special plastic containers. Under stationary conditions, the samples were melted in glass or aluminum containers. The resulting water was filtered using a demountable funnel through membrane filters (pore size 0.7 μm). The filters were wetted with glycerol and the amount of microparticles was determined in transmitted light at a magnification of 350X.
Also studied polar ice, bottom sediments of the Pacific Ocean, sedimentary rocks, salt deposits. Wherein promising direction the search for fused microscopic spherical particles proved to be quite easy to identify among the rest of the dust fractions.
In 1962, at the Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences, a Commission on Meteorites and Cosmic Dust was created, headed by Academician V.S. Sobolev, which existed until 1990 and whose creation was initiated by the problem Tunguska meteorite... Work on the study of cosmic dust was carried out under the guidance of Academician of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences N.V. Vasiliev.
When assessing the fallout of cosmic dust, along with other natural plates, peat, composed of sphagnum brown moss according to the methodology of the Tomsk scientist Yu.A. Lvov. This moss is quite widespread in middle lane of the globe, it receives mineral nutrition only from the atmosphere and has the ability to preserve it in the layer that was superficial when dust enters it. Layer-by-layer stratification and dating of peat makes it possible to give a retrospective assessment of its deposition. We studied both spherical particles with a size of 7-100 microns and the microelement composition of the peat substrate - the functions of the dust contained in it.
The technique for separating cosmic dust from peat is as follows. On the site of a raised sphagnum bog, an area with a flat surface and a peat deposit composed of sphagnum brown moss (Sphagnum fuscum Klingr) is selected. Shrubs are cut from its surface at the level of the moss sod. A pit is laid to a depth of 60 cm, a site of the required size (for example, 10x10 cm) is marked at its side, then a column of peat is exposed on two or three sides of it, cut into layers of 3 cm each, which are packed in plastic bags. The upper 6 layers (stripping) are considered together and can serve to determine age characteristics according to the method of E.Ya. Muldiyarova and E. D. Lapshin. Each layer under laboratory conditions is washed through a sieve with a mesh diameter of 250 microns for at least 5 minutes. The humus with mineral particles that has passed through the sieve is settled until the precipitate is completely precipitated, then the precipitate is poured into a Petri dish, where it is dried. Packaged in tracing paper, the dry sample is convenient for transportation and for further study. Under appropriate conditions, the sample is ashed in a crucible and a muffle furnace for an hour at a temperature of 500-600 degrees. The ash residue is weighed and either examined under a binocular microscope with a magnification of 56 times to identify spherical particles with a size of 7-100 microns or more, or undergo other types of analysis. Because This moss receives mineral nutrition only from the atmosphere, then its ash component can be a function of the cosmic dust included in its composition.
Thus, studies in the area of the fall of the Tunguska meteorite, many hundreds of kilometers away from the sources of technogenic pollution, made it possible to estimate the inflow of spherical particles with a size of 7-100 microns and more to the Earth's surface. The upper layers of peat made it possible to estimate the fallout of the global aerosol at the time of the study; layers related to 1908 - the substance of the Tunguska meteorite; lower (pre-industrial) layers - cosmic dust. In this case, the inflow of space microspherules to the Earth's surface is estimated at (2-4) · 10 3 t / year, and in general, space dust - 1.5 · 10 9 t / year. Analytical methods of analysis were used, in particular neutron activation, to determine the trace element composition of cosmic dust. According to these data, iron (2 · 10 6), cobalt (150), scandium (250) fall out of outer space (t / year) annually on the Earth's surface.
Of great interest in terms of the above studies are the works of E.M. Kolesnikova et al., Who discovered isotopic anomalies in the peat of the area of the Tunguska meteorite fall, dating back to 1908 and speaking, on the one hand, in favor of the cometary hypothesis of this phenomenon, on the other hand, shedding light on the cometary matter that fell to the Earth's surface.
The most complete overview of the problem of the Tunguska meteorite, including its matter, for 2000 should be considered the monograph by V.A. Bronstein. The latest data on the material of the Tunguska meteorite were reported and discussed at the International Conference “100 Years of the Tunguska Phenomenon”, Moscow, June 26-28, 2008. Despite the progress made in studying cosmic dust, a number of problems still remain unresolved.
Sources of metascientific knowledge about cosmic dust
Along with the data obtained by modern research methods, the information contained in extrascientific sources is of great interest: "Letters of the Mahatmas", the Doctrine of Living Ethics, letters and works of E.I. Roerich (in particular, in her work "The Study of Human Properties", which gives an extensive program of scientific research for many years to come).
So in a letter from Coot Humi in 1882 to the editor of the influential English-language newspaper "Pioneer" A.P. Sinnett (the original of the letter is kept in the British Museum) is given the following data on cosmic dust:
- "High above our earth's surface, the air is saturated and space is filled with magnetic and meteoric dust, which does not even belong to our solar system";
"The snow, especially in our northern regions, is full of meteoric iron and magnetic particles, deposits of the latter are found even at the bottom of the oceans." “Millions of such meteors and the finest particles reach us every year and every day”;
- “every atmospheric change on Earth and all perturbations come from the combined magnetism” of two large “masses” - the Earth and meteoric dust;
There is "the earth's magnetic attraction of meteoric dust and the direct effect of the latter on sudden temperature changes, especially with respect to heat and cold";
Because "Our earth with all other planets rushes in space, it receives most of the cosmic dust to its northern hemisphere than to the southern"; "... this explains the quantitative predominance of the continents in the northern hemisphere and the greater abundance of snow and dampness";
- “The heat that the earth receives from the rays of the sun is, in the very to a greater extent, only a third, if not less, of the amount it receives directly from meteors ";
- "Powerful clusters of meteoric matter" in interstellar space lead to a distortion of the observed intensity of starlight and, consequently, to a distortion of the distances to stars obtained by photometric means.
A number of these provisions were ahead of the science of that time and were confirmed by subsequent research. So, studies of the twilight glow of the atmosphere, carried out in the 30-50s. XX century, showed that if at altitudes less than 100 km the glow is determined by the scattering of sunlight in a gaseous (air) medium, then at altitudes above 100 km, scattering by dust grains plays a predominant role. The first observations made with the help of artificial satellites led to the discovery of a dusty shell of the Earth at altitudes of several hundred kilometers, as indicated in the aforementioned letter from Koot Khumi. Of particular interest are data on the distortions of distances to stars obtained by photometric methods. In essence, this was an indication of the presence of interstellar extinction, discovered in 1930 by Trempler, which is rightfully considered one of the most important astronomical discoveries of the 20th century. Taking interstellar extinction into account led to an overestimation of the scale of astronomical distances and, as a consequence, to a change in the scale of the visible Universe.
Some of the provisions of this letter - about the effect of cosmic dust on processes in the atmosphere, in particular on the weather - have not yet been scientifically confirmed. Further study is needed here.
Let us turn to one more source of metascientific knowledge - the Teaching of Living Ethics, created by E.I. Roerich and N.K. Roerich in collaboration with the Himalayan Teachers - Mahatmas in the 20-30s of the XX century. The Living Ethics books originally published in Russian have now been translated and published in many languages of the world. They pay great attention to scientific problems. In this case, we will be interested in everything related to cosmic dust.
A lot of attention is paid to the problem of cosmic dust, in particular its inflow to the surface of the Earth, in the Teaching of Living Ethics.
“Look out for high places subject to winds from snowy peaks. At twenty-four thousand feet, special meteoric dust deposits can be observed ”(1927-1929). “Aeroliths are not studied enough, and even less attention is paid to cosmic dust on eternal snows and glaciers. Meanwhile, the Cosmic Ocean draws its rhythm on the peaks ”(1930-1931). "Meteoric dust is inaccessible to the eye, but it gives very significant precipitation" (1932-1933). “In the purest place, the purest snow is saturated with earthly and cosmic dust, - this is how space is filled even with rough observation” (1936).
The issues of cosmic dust are also given great attention in "Cosmological Records" by E.I. Roerich (1940). It should be borne in mind that Helena Roerich closely followed the development of astronomy and was aware of its latest achievements; she critically assessed some theories of that time (20-30 years of the last century), for example, in the field of cosmology, and her ideas were confirmed in our time. The Teaching of Living Ethics and the Cosmological Records of E.I. Roerich contains a number of provisions on the processes associated with the fallout of cosmic dust on the Earth's surface and which can be summarized as follows:
In addition to meteorites, material particles of cosmic dust constantly fall on the Earth, which bring in cosmic matter that carries information about the Far Worlds of outer space;
Cosmic dust changes the composition of soil, snow, natural waters and plants;
This especially applies to the places of occurrence of natural ores, which are not only a kind of magnets that attract cosmic dust, but one should expect some differentiation depending on the type of ore: “So iron and other metals attract meteors, especially when ores are in a natural state and not devoid of cosmic magnetism ”;
Much attention in the Teaching of Living Ethics is paid to mountain peaks, which, according to E.I. Roerich "... are the greatest magnetic stations." "... The Cosmic Ocean draws its rhythm on the peaks";
The study of cosmic dust could lead to the discovery of new, not yet discovered modern science minerals, in particular - a metal that has properties that help to store vibrations with the distant worlds of outer space;
When studying cosmic dust, new types of microbes and bacteria can be discovered;
But what is especially important, the Teaching of Living Ethics opens a new page of scientific knowledge - the impact of cosmic dust on living organisms, including on humans and their energies. It can have various effects on the human body and some processes on the physical and, especially, thin plans.
This information is beginning to find confirmation in modern scientific research... So in recent years, complex organic compounds and some scientists started talking about space microbes. In this regard, the work on bacterial paleontology carried out at the Institute of Paleontology of the Russian Academy of Sciences is of particular interest. In these works, in addition to terrestrial rocks, meteorites were studied. It is shown that the micro-fossils found in meteorites are traces of the vital activity of microorganisms, some of which are similar to cyanobacteria. In a number of studies, it was possible to experimentally show the positive effect of cosmic matter on plant growth and substantiate the possibility of its influence on the human body.
The authors of the Living Ethics Teachings strongly recommend organizing constant monitoring of the fallout of cosmic dust. And as its natural accumulator to use glacial and snow deposits in the mountains at an altitude of over 7 thousand meters. The Roerichs, living for many years in the Himalayas, dream of creating a scientific station there. In a letter dated October 13, 1930, E.I. Roerich writes: “The station should develop into the City of Knowledge. We wish in this City to give a synthesis of achievements, therefore, all fields of science should subsequently be represented in it ... Study of new cosmic rays, giving humanity new and most valuable energies, possible only at heights, for all the most subtle and most valuable and powerful lies in the purer layers of the atmosphere. Also, are not all meteoric precipitations that are deposited on the snowy peaks and carried into the valleys by mountain streams deserving attention? " ...
Conclusion
The study of cosmic dust has now become an independent field of modern astrophysics and geophysics. This problem is especially relevant, since meteoric dust is a source of cosmic matter and energy, continuously brought to the Earth from outer space and actively affecting geochemical and geophysical processes, as well as exerting a peculiar effect on biological objects, including humans. These processes have hardly been studied yet. In the study of cosmic dust, a number of provisions contained in the sources of metascientific knowledge have not found proper application. Meteoric dust manifests itself in terrestrial conditions not only as a phenomenon of the physical world, but also as matter carrying the energetics of outer space, including worlds of other dimensions and other states of matter. Taking these provisions into account requires the development of a completely new method for studying meteoric dust. But the most important task is still the collection and analysis of cosmic dust in various natural storage facilities.
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During 2003-2008. A group of Russian and Austrian scientists with the participation of Heinz Kohlmann, a famous paleontologist and curator of the Eisenwurzen National Park, studied the catastrophe that happened 65 million years ago, when more than 75% of all organisms on Earth, including dinosaurs, died out. Most researchers believe that the extinction was associated with an asteroid impact, although there are other points of view.
Traces of this catastrophe in geological sections are represented by a thin layer of black clay from 1 to 5 cm thick. One of these sections is located in Austria, in the Eastern Alps, in the National Park near the small town of Gams, located 200 km southwest of Vienna. As a result of studying the samples from this section using a scanning electron microscope, particles of unusual shape and composition were found, which do not form under ground conditions and belong to cosmic dust.
Stardust on Earth
For the first time, traces of space matter on Earth were discovered in red deep-sea clays by an English expedition that explored the bottom of the World Ocean on the Challenger ship (1872–1876). They were described by Murray and Renard in 1891. At two stations in the South Pacific Ocean, when dredging from a depth of 4300 m, samples of ferromanganese nodules and magnetic microspheres up to 100 µm in diameter were raised, later called "space balls". However, the details of the iron microspheres raised by the Challenger expedition have been investigated only in recent years. It turned out that the balls are 90% metallic iron, 10% nickel, and their surface is covered with a thin crust of iron oxide.
Rice. 1. Monolith from the Gams 1 section, prepared for sampling. Layers are denoted by Latin letters different ages... The transitional layer of clay between the Cretaceous and Paleogene periods (age about 65 million years), in which an accumulation of metal microspheres and plates was found, is marked with the letter "J". Photo by A.F. Gracheva
The discovery of mysterious balls in deep-sea clays, in fact, is connected with the beginning of the study of cosmic matter on Earth. However, the explosion of interest of researchers to this problem occurred after the first launches of spacecraft, with the help of which it became possible to select lunar soil and samples of dust particles from different parts of the solar system. The works of K.P. Florensky (1963), who studied the traces of the Tunguska catastrophe, and E.L. Krinov (1971), who studied meteoric dust at the site of the fall of the Sikhote-Alin meteorite.
The interest of researchers in metal microspheres led to the fact that they began to be found in sedimentary rocks of different ages and origins. Metal microspheres are found in the ice of Antarctica and Greenland, in deep ocean sediments and manganese nodules, in the sands of deserts and coastal beaches. They are often found in and around meteorite craters.
In the last decade, metal microspheres of extraterrestrial origin have been found in sedimentary rocks of various ages: from the Lower Cambrian (about 500 million years ago) to modern formations.
Data on microspheres and other particles from ancient sediments make it possible to judge the volumes, as well as the uniformity or unevenness of the influx of cosmic matter to the Earth, the change in the composition of particles arriving to the Earth from space, and the primary sources of this substance. This is important because these processes affect the development of life on Earth. Many of these questions are still far from being resolved, but the accumulation of data and their comprehensive study will undoubtedly make it possible to answer them.
It is now known that the total mass of dust circulating inside the earth's orbit is about 1015 tons. From 4 to 10 thousand tons of cosmic matter falls on the Earth's surface annually. 95% of the matter falling on the Earth's surface is made up of particles with a size of 50–400 microns. The question of how the rate of inflow of cosmic matter to Earth changes over time remains controversial until now, despite many studies carried out in the last 10 years.
Based on the size of cosmic dust particles, the actual interplanetary cosmic dust less than 30 microns in size and micrometeorites larger than 50 microns are currently being emitted. Even earlier E.L. Krinov suggested calling the smallest fragments of a meteoric body melted from the surface micrometeorites.
Strict criteria for distinguishing cosmic dust and meteorite particles have not yet been developed, and even using the example of the Gams section studied by us, it has been shown that metal particles and microspheres are more diverse in shape and composition than provided by the existing classifications. The almost perfect spherical shape, metallic luster and magnetic properties of the particles were considered as evidence of their cosmic origin. According to the geochemist E.V. Sobotovich, "the only morphological criterion for assessing the cosmogeneity of the material under study is the presence of fused balls, including magnetic ones." However, in addition to the form, which is extremely diverse, the chemical composition of the substance is fundamentally important. Researchers have found that along with microspheres of cosmic origin, there is a huge number of balls of a different genesis - associated with volcanic activity, the vital activity of bacteria or metamorphism. It is known that ferruginous microspheres of volcanic origin are much less often of ideal spherical shape and, moreover, have an increased admixture of titanium (Ti) (more than 10%).
A Russian-Austrian group of geologists and a film crew from Vienna TV at the Gams section in the Eastern Alps. In the foreground - A.F. Grachev
The origin of cosmic dust
The origin of cosmic dust is still a subject of debate. Professor E.V. Sobotovich believed that cosmic dust could represent the remnants of the original protoplanetary cloud, against which B.Yu. Levin and A.N. Simonenko, believing that fine matter could not persist for a long time (Earth and Universe, 1980, No. 6).
There is another explanation: the formation of cosmic dust is associated with the destruction of asteroids and comets. As noted by E.V. Sobotovich, if the amount of cosmic dust entering the Earth does not change over time, then B.Yu. Levin and A.N. Symonenko.
Despite the large number of studies, the answer to this fundamental question cannot be given at present, because there are very few quantitative estimates, and their accuracy is controversial. V recent times data from isotopic studies under the NASA program of cosmic dust particles sampled in the stratosphere suggest the existence of particles of pre-solar origin. In the composition of this dust, minerals such as diamond, moissanite (silicon carbide) and corundum were found, which, according to the isotopes of carbon and nitrogen, make it possible to attribute their formation to the time before the formation of the solar system.
The importance of studying cosmic dust from a geological perspective is obvious. This article presents the first results of the study of space matter in the transitional clay layer at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary (65 million years ago) from the Gams section, in the Eastern Alps (Austria).
General characteristics of the Gams section
Particles of cosmic origin were obtained from several sections of the transitional layers between the Cretaceous and the Paleogene (in the Germanic literature - the K / T border), located near the alpine village of Gams, where the river of the same name in several places opens this border.
In the Gams 1 section, a monolith was cut from the outcrop, in which the K / T boundary is very well expressed. Its height is 46 cm, width - 30 cm in the lower part and 22 cm - in the upper part, thickness - 4 cm.For a general study of the section, the monolith was divided after 2 cm (from bottom to top) into layers designated by letters of the Latin alphabet (A, B , C ... W), and within each layer, also after 2 cm, a marking is made with numbers (1, 2, 3, etc.). The transitional layer J at the K / T interface was studied in more detail, where six sublayers with a thickness of about 3 mm were distinguished.
The research results obtained in the Gams 1 section were largely repeated when studying another section - Gams 2. The complex of studies included the study of thin sections and monomineral fractions, their chemical analysis, as well as X-ray fluorescence, neutron-activation and X-ray structural analyzes, isotopic analysis of helium, carbon and oxygen, determination of the composition of minerals on a microprobe, magnetomineralogical analysis.
Variety of microparticles
Iron and nickel microspheres from the transitional layer between the Cretaceous and the Paleogene in the Gams section: 1 - Fe microsphere with a coarse reticular-knobby surface (upper part of the transitional layer J); 2 - Fe microsphere with a rough longitudinally parallel surface (the lower part of the transition layer J); 3 - Fe microsphere with crystallographic faceting elements and a coarse mesh-like surface texture (layer M); 4 - Fe microsphere with a thin mesh surface (upper part of the transition layer J); 5 - Ni microsphere with crystallites on the surface (upper part of the transition layer J); 6 - aggregate of sintered Ni microspheres with crystallites on the surface (upper part of the transition layer J); 7 - aggregate of Ni microspheres with microdiamonds (C; upper part of the transition layer J); 8, 9 - characteristic forms of metal particles from the transitional layer between Cretaceous and Paleogene in the Gams section in the Eastern Alps.
In the transitional clay layer between the two geological boundaries - Cretaceous and Paleogene, as well as at two levels in the overlying deposits of the Paleocene in the Gams section, many metal particles and microspheres of cosmic origin were found. They are much more varied in shape, surface texture and chemical composition than all known so far in the transitional layers of clay of this age in other regions of the world.
In the Gams section, space matter is represented by finely dispersed particles of various shapes, among which the most common are magnetic microspheres ranging in size from 0.7 to 100 μm, consisting of 98% pure iron. Such particles in the form of spheres or microspherules are found in large numbers not only in layer J, but also above, in clays of the Paleocene (layers K and M).
Microspheres are composed of pure iron or magnetite, some of which contain chromium (Cr), an alloy of iron and nickel (avaruite), and pure nickel (Ni). Some Fe-Ni particles contain an impurity of molybdenum (Mo). In the transitional layer of clay between the Cretaceous and Paleogene, they were all discovered for the first time.
Never before have we come across particles with a high nickel content and a significant admixture of molybdenum, microspheres with the presence of chromium and pieces of spiral iron. In addition to metal microspheres and particles, Ni-spinel, microdiamonds with microspheres of pure Ni, as well as torn plates of Au, Cu, which were not found in the underlying and overlying deposits, were found in the transitional clay layer in Gams.
Characteristics of microparticles
Metallic microspheres in the Gams section are present at three stratigraphic levels: ferruginous particles of various shapes are concentrated in the transitional clay layer, in the overlying fine-grained sandstones of the K layer, and the third level is formed by siltstones of the M layer.
Some spheres have a smooth surface, others have a lattice-knobby surface, others are covered with a mesh of small polygonal or a system of parallel cracks extending from one main crack. They are hollow, shell-like, filled with a clay mineral, and may also have an internal concentric structure. Fe metal particles and microspheres are found throughout the transitional clay layer, but are mainly concentrated in the lower and middle horizons.
Micrometeorites are fused particles of pure iron or an iron-nickel alloy Fe-Ni (avaruite); their sizes are from 5 to 20 microns. Numerous particles of avaruite are confined to upper level transitional layer J, while pure ferruginous ones are present in the lower and upper parts of the transitional layer.
Particles in the form of plates with a cross-tuberous surface consist only of iron, their width is 10–20 µm, and their length is up to 150 µm. They are slightly arcuate and meet at the base of the transitional layer J. In its lower part, Fe-Ni plates with an admixture of Mo are also encountered.
Plates of an alloy of iron and nickel have an elongated shape, slightly curved, with longitudinal grooves on the surface, the dimensions vary in length from 70 to 150 µm with a width of about 20 µm. They are more common in the lower and middle parts of the transitional layer.
Ferruginous plates with longitudinal grooves are identical in shape and size to Ni-Fe alloy plates. They are confined to the lower and middle parts of the transitional layer.
Particles of pure iron, which have the shape of a regular spiral and are bent in the form of a hook, are of particular interest. They mainly consist of pure Fe, rarely it is an Fe-Ni-Mo alloy. Coiled iron particles are found in the upper part of the J layer and in the overlying sandstone interlayer (K layer). A helical Fe-Ni-Mo particle was found at the base of the transition layer J.
In the upper part of the transition layer J, there were several grains of microdiamonds sintered with Ni microspheres. Microprobe studies of nickel balls, carried out on two instruments (with wave and energy dispersive spectrometers), showed that these balls consist of almost pure nickel under a thin film of nickel oxide. The surface of all nickel balls is dotted with clear crystallites with pronounced twins 1–2 µm in size. Such pure nickel in the form of spheres with a well-crystallized surface is not found either in igneous rocks or in meteorites, where nickel necessarily contains a significant amount of impurities.
In the study of the monolith from the Gams 1 section, pure Ni spheres were found only in the uppermost part of the transition layer J (in its uppermost part - a very thin sedimentary layer J 6, the thickness of which does not exceed 200 μm), and according to the data of thermal magnetic analysis, metallic nickel is present in transition layer, starting with sublayer J4. Here, along with Ni balls, diamonds were also found. In a layer removed from a cube with an area of 1 cm2, the number of diamond grains found is in the tens (with a size from fractions of microns to tens of microns), and nickel balls of the same size - in hundreds.
Samples from the upper part of the transition layer taken directly from the outcrop were found to contain diamonds with fine nickel particles on the grain surface. It is significant that when studying samples from this part of layer J, the presence of the mineral moissanite was also revealed. Earlier, microdiamonds were found in the transitional layer at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary in Mexico.
Finds in other areas
Microspheres of Gams with a concentric internal structure are similar to those that were mined by the Challenger expedition in the deep-sea clays of the Pacific Ocean.
Iron particles irregular shape with melted edges, as well as in the form of spirals and curved hooks and plates, they are very similar to the destruction products of meteorites falling to the Earth, they can be considered as meteoric iron. Particles of avaruite and pure nickel can be assigned to the same category.
Curved iron particles are close to various forms of Pele tears - drops of lava (lapilli), which are thrown into liquid state volcanoes from the vent during eruptions.
Thus, the transitional clay layer at Gams has a heterogeneous structure and is clearly subdivided into two parts. In the lower and middle parts, iron particles and microspheres predominate, while the upper part of the layer is enriched with nickel: avaruite particles and nickel microspheres with diamonds. This is confirmed not only by the distribution of iron and nickel particles in the clay, but also by the data of chemical and thermomagnetic analyzes.
Comparison of the data of thermomagnetic analysis and microprobe analysis indicates an extreme heterogeneity in the distribution of nickel, iron, and their alloy within the J layer; however, according to the results of thermomagnetic analysis, pure nickel is recorded only from the J4 layer. Noteworthy is the fact that helical iron occurs mainly in the upper part of the J layer and continues to occur in the K layer overlying it, where, however, there are few isometric or lamellar Fe, Fe-Ni particles.
We emphasize that such a clear differentiation in iron, nickel, and iridium, manifested in the transitional clay layer in Gams, is also present in other regions. For example, in the US state of New Jersey, in the transitional (6 cm) spherulic layer, the iridium anomaly sharply manifested itself at its base, and impact minerals are concentrated only in the upper (1 cm) part of this layer. In Haiti, at the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary and in the uppermost part of the spherul layer, a sharp enrichment in Ni and shock quartz is noted.
Background Phenomenon for Earth
Many features of the found Fe and Fe-Ni spherules are similar to the balls discovered by the Challenger expedition in the deep-sea clays of the Pacific Ocean, in the area of the Tunguska catastrophe and the fall sites of the Sikhote-Alin meteorite and Nio meteorite in Japan, as well as in sedimentary rocks of various ages from many areas of the world. In addition to the regions of the Tunguska catastrophe and the fall of the Sikhote-Alin meteorite, in all other cases the formation of not only spherules, but also particles of various morphologies, consisting of pure iron (sometimes with a chromium content) and an alloy of nickel with iron, has no connection with the impact event. We consider the appearance of such particles as a result of cosmic interplanetary dust falling onto the Earth's surface, a process that has been continuously ongoing since the formation of the Earth and is a kind of background phenomenon.
Many of the particles studied in the Gams section are close in composition to the bulk chemical composition of the meteorite matter at the site of the fall of the Sikhote-Alin meteorite (according to E.L. Krinov, this is 93.29% iron, 5.94% nickel, 0.38% cobalt).
The presence of molybdenum in some of the particles is not unexpected as it includes many types of meteorites. The content of molybdenum in meteorites (iron, stone and carbonaceous chondrites) ranges from 6 to 7 g / t. The most important was the find of molybdenite in the Allende meteorite in the form of an inclusion in the alloy of a metal of the following composition (wt%): Fe - 31.1, Ni - 64.5, Co - 2.0, Cr - 0.3, V - 0.5, P - 0.1. It should be noted that native molybdenum and molybdenite were also found in lunar dust sampled automatic stations Luna-16, Luna-20 and Luna-24.
The first discovered spheres of pure nickel with a well-crystallized surface are not known either in igneous rocks or in meteorites, where nickel necessarily contains a significant amount of impurities. Such a structure of the surface of nickel balls could arise in the event of an asteroid (meteorite) falling, which led to the release of energy, which made it possible not only to melt the material of the falling body, but also to evaporate it. The metal vapors could have been lifted by the explosion to a great height (probably tens of kilometers), where crystallization took place.
Particles composed of avaruite (Ni3Fe) are found together with metallic balls of nickel. They belong to meteoric dust, and fused iron particles (micrometeorites) should be considered as "meteorite dust" (in the terminology of EL Krinov). Diamond crystals encountered along with nickel balls are likely to have arisen as a result of ablation (melting and evaporation) of a meteorite from the same vapor cloud during its subsequent cooling. It is known that synthetic diamonds are obtained by spontaneous crystallization from a carbon solution in a metal melt (Ni, Fe) above the graphite-diamond phase equilibrium line in the form of single crystals, their intergrowths, twins, polycrystalline aggregates, frame crystals, needle-shaped crystals, irregular grains. Almost all of the listed typomorphic features of diamond crystals were found in the studied sample.
This allows us to conclude that the processes of diamond crystallization in a cloud of nickel-carbon vapor during its cooling and spontaneous crystallization from a carbon solution in a nickel melt in experiments are similar. However, the final conclusion about the nature of diamond can be made after detailed isotopic studies, for which it is necessary to obtain a sufficiently large amount of substance.
