Welcome to the 'Astro Facts' Page
On this page you will find interesting Astronomy related items
Micro-meteorites (Space Dust)
How to find them
To collect micrometeorites you need to find a place where they can become concentrated. The drains of a house work well since rainwater can wash particles off an entire roof and collect them at the drain spout. But dust and all other sorts of airborne material also collect there. To find the metallic micrometeorites, collect and dry some of the material from a deep bowl or bucket at the base of the drain spout. After removing leaves and other debris, place the remaining material on a piece of paper and place a magnet under the paper. Tilt and tap the paper so that all of the non-metallic particles fall off. The remaining metallic particles are pieces of space dust! To examine them even better, place them under a microscope. The micrometeorites will show signs of their fiery trip through the atmosphere. They will be rounded and may have small pits on their surfaces.
Micrometeorites magnified under a Microscope
What you are observing are particles that date from the formation of the solar system around 4.6 billion years ago! They are the debris remaining from the raw materials that formed into the nine known planets and the asteroids. Most particles have been broken off or ground down from larger objects.
Remembering the names of the Planets!
How often have you forgotten the Names and order of the Planets?
There has been, for some years, a little saying to help people remember the names and order of the Planets in our Solar System by using the 1st initial of each Planet:
My Very Educated Mother Just Showed Us Nine Planets.
That's fine, but questions have been raised as to what will happen to that saying now the the 10th Planet '2003UB313' has been discovered!
Well, I came up with a solution
There has been, for some years, a little saying to help people remember the names and order of the Planets in our Solar System by using the 1st initial of each Planet:
My Very Educated Mother Just Showed Us Nine Planets.
That's fine, but questions have been raised as to what will happen to that saying now the the 10th Planet '2003UB313' has been discovered!
Well, I came up with a solution
Getting History Straight
Did Galileo Invent the Telescope?
No. This is one of those things that "everyone knows," yet is absolutely incorrect. Let's give credit to the person who really invented the telescope. Who invented the telescope? In 1608, Dutch eyeglass maker, Hans Lippershey offered a new device to the government for military use. This new device made use of two glass lenses in a tube to magnify distant objects. He may not have invented the telescope (in fact, at least two other Dutch opticians were also working on the idea at the time), but Hans Lippershey has been credited with its invention. He, at least, applied for the patent for it first.
Galileo was the first person to actually point Lippersheys invention upwards to look at the Heavens in 1609.
Galileo was the first person to actually point Lippersheys invention upwards to look at the Heavens in 1609.
Did Isaac Newton Invent the Newtonian Reflecting Telescope?
James Gregory (1638-1675), a Scottish mathematician, invented the first reflecting telescope in 1663. He published a description of the reflecting telescope in "Optica Promota," which was published in 1663. Isaac Newton improved the design and it is now called the �Newtonian Telescope�.
Did John Dobson invent the Dobsonian Telescope Mount.
Again, the answer is no. I ask John to explain this when I met him in 2005. He said that he saw the simplicity of the way old cannons were mounted and copied the same principal to do away with the cost of expensive mounts. It was his fellow Amateur Astronomers who named it after him.
Einstein Quotes
Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.� Albert Einstein
If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?
� Albert Einstein
The wireless telegraph is not difficult to understand. The ordinary telegraph is like a very long cat. You pull the tail in New York, and it meows in Los Angeles. The wireless is the same, only without the cat.
� Albert Einstein
If the facts don't fit the theory, change the facts. � Albert Einstein
In the period that Einstein was active as a professor, one of his students came to him and said: "The questions of this year's exam are the same as last years!" "True," Einstein said, "but this year all the answers are different."
Whether the chicken crossed the road or the road moved beneath the chicken depends on your frame of reference.
- Albert Einstein
The speed of time is one second per second. - Albert Einstein
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