Scientists at the University of Hawaii made a sensational discovery - space dust contains organic matter, including water, which confirms the possibility of transferring various life forms from one galaxy to another. Comets and asteroids plying in space regularly bring masses of stardust into the atmosphere of planets. Thus, interstellar dust acts as a kind of "transport" that can deliver water with organic matter to the Earth and to other planets of the solar system. Perhaps, once, the flow of cosmic dust led to the emergence of life on Earth. It is possible that life on Mars, the existence of which causes much controversy in scientific circles, could have arisen in the same way.

The mechanism of water formation in the structure of cosmic dust

In the process of moving through space, the surface of interstellar dust particles is irradiated, which leads to the formation of water compounds. This mechanism can be described in more detail as follows: hydrogen ions present in solar vortex flows bombard the shell of cosmic dust particles, knocking out individual atoms from the crystal structure of a silicate mineral, the main building material of intergalactic objects. As a result of this process, oxygen is released, which reacts with hydrogen. Thus, water molecules containing inclusions of organic substances are formed.

Colliding with the surface of the planet, asteroids, meteorites and comets bring a mixture of water and organic matter to its surface.

What space dust- a companion of asteroids, meteorites and comets, carries molecules of organic carbon compounds, it was known before. But the fact that stardust also transports water has not been proven. Only now American scientists have discovered for the first time that organic matter carried by interstellar dust particles together with water molecules.

How did water get to the moon?

The discovery of scientists from the US may help lift the veil of mystery over the mechanism of formation of strange ice formations. Despite the fact that the surface of the Moon is completely dehydrated, an OH compound was found on its shadow side using sounding. This find testifies in favor of the possible presence of water in the bowels of the moon.

The other side of the Moon is completely covered with ice. Perhaps it was with cosmic dust that water molecules hit its surface many billions of years ago.

Since the era of the Apollo lunar rovers in the exploration of the moon, when samples of lunar soil were delivered to Earth, scientists have come to the conclusion that sunny wind causes changes in the chemical composition of stellar dust that covers the surfaces of planets. The possibility of the formation of water molecules in the thickness of cosmic dust on the Moon was still debated then, but the analytical research methods available at that time were not able to either prove or disprove this hypothesis.

Space dust - the carrier of life forms

Due to the fact that water is formed in a very small volume and is localized in a thin shell on the surface space dust, only now it has become possible to see it with a high-resolution electron microscope. Scientists believe that a similar mechanism for the movement of water with molecules of organic compounds is possible in other galaxies, where it revolves around the "parent" star. In their further studies, scientists intend to identify in more detail which inorganic and organic matter based on carbon are present in the structure of star dust.

Interesting to know! An exoplanet is a planet that is outside the solar system and revolves around a star. At the moment, about 1000 exoplanets have been visually detected in our galaxy, forming about 800 planetary systems. However, indirect detection methods indicate the existence of 100 billion exoplanets, of which 5-10 billion have parameters similar to the Earth, that is, they are. A significant contribution to the mission of searching for planetary groups similar to the solar system was made by the astronomical satellite-telescope Kepler, launched into space in 2009, together with the Planet Hunters program.

How could life originate on Earth?

It is very likely that comets traveling through space at high speed are capable of creating enough energy when colliding with the planet to begin the synthesis of more complex organic compounds, including amino acid molecules, from the components of ice. A similar effect occurs when a meteorite collides with the icy surface of the planet. The shock wave creates heat, which triggers the formation of amino acids from individual space dust molecules processed by the solar wind.

Interesting to know! Comets are made up of large blocks of ice formed by the condensation of water vapor during the early creation of the solar system, about 4.5 billion years ago. Comets contain carbon dioxide, water, ammonia, and methanol in their structure. These substances during the collision of comets with the Earth, at an early stage of its development, could produce enough energy to produce amino acids - the building proteins necessary for the development of life.

Computer simulations have shown that icy comets that crashed on the Earth's surface billions of years ago may have contained prebiotic mixtures and simple amino acids like glycine, from which life on Earth subsequently originated.

The amount of energy released during the collision of a celestial body and a planet is enough to start the process of formation of amino acids

Scientists have found that icy bodies with identical organic compounds found in comets can be found inside the solar system. For example, Enceladus, one of the satellites of Saturn, or Europa, a satellite of Jupiter, contain in their shell organic matter mixed with ice. Hypothetically, any bombardment of satellites by meteorites, asteroids or comets can lead to the emergence of life on these planets.

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From the book "Letters of the Mahatmas" it is known that as early as the end of the 19th century, the Mahatmas made it clear that the cause of climate change lies in the change in the amount of cosmic dust in the upper atmosphere. Cosmic dust is present everywhere in outer space, but there are areas with a high content of dust and there are with less. The solar system in its movement crosses both, and this is reflected in the climate of the Earth. But how does this happen, what is the mechanism of the impact of this dust on the climate?

This post draws attention to the dust tail, but the image also shows the real size of the dust "fur coat" - it is simply huge.

Knowing that the Earth's diameter is 12,000 km, we can say that its average thickness is at least 2,000 km. This "fur coat" is attracted by the Earth and directly affects the atmosphere, compressing it. As stated in the answer: "... direct impact the last to sudden changes in temperature ... ”- really direct in the real sense of the word. In the case of a decrease in the mass of cosmic dust in this "fur coat", when the Earth passes through outer space with a lower concentration of cosmic dust, the compression force decreases and the atmosphere expands, accompanied by its cooling. This is what was implied in the words of the answer: "... that the ice ages, as well as the periods when the temperature is like the" Carboniferous Age ", are due to a decrease and increase, or rather an expansion of our atmosphere, an expansion which is itself due to the same meteoric presence", those. is due to the lesser presence of cosmic dust in this "fur coat".

Another vivid illustration of the existence of this electrified gas and dust "fur coat" can serve as the already known to all electrical discharges in the upper atmosphere, coming from thunderclouds to the stratosphere and above. The area of ​​these discharges occupies a height from the upper boundary of thunderclouds, from where blue "jets" originate, to 100-130 km, where giant flashes of red "elves" and "sprites" occur. These discharges are exchanged through thunderclouds by two large electrified masses - the Earth and the mass of cosmic dust in the upper atmosphere. In fact, this “fur coat” in its lower part starts from the upper boundary of cloud formation. Below this boundary, condensation of atmospheric moisture occurs, where cosmic dust particles participate in the creation of condensation nuclei. Further, this dust falls on the earth's surface along with precipitation.

At the beginning of 2012, messages appeared on the Internet on an interesting topic. Here is one of them: (Komsomolskaya Pravda, Feb. 28, 2012)

“NASA satellites have shown: the sky has become very close to the Earth. Over the past decade - from March 2000 to February 2010 - the height of the cloud layer has decreased by 1 percent, or, in other words, by 30-40 meters. And this decrease is mainly due to the fact that less and less clouds began to form at high altitudes, according to infoniac.ru. There they are formed every year less and less. By takomu trevozhnomu vyvodu came uchenye of Univerciteta Oklenda (Novaya Zelandiya) proanalizirovav Specifications pervyh 10 years Measuring vycotnocti oblakov, poluchennye mnogouglovym cpektroradiometrom (MISR) c kocmicheckogo apparata NASA Terra.

While we do not know exactly what caused the decrease in the height of the clouds, – admitted the researcher Professor Roger Davies (Roger Davies). “But perhaps this is due to changes in circulation that lead to the formation of clouds at high altitude.

Climatologists warn: if clouds continue to fall, it could have an important impact on global climate change. Lower cloud cover could help the Earth cool down and slow down global warming by venting heat into space. But it can also represent a negative feedback effect, that is, a change caused by global warming. However, while scientists cannot give an answer to whether it is possible to say something about the future of our climate based on cloud data. Although optimists believe that the 10-year observation period is too short to make such global conclusions. An article about this was published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

It can be assumed that the position of the upper boundary of cloud formation directly depends on the degree of atmospheric compression. What scientists from New Zealand have found may be a consequence of increased compression, and in the future may serve as an indicator of climate change. So, for example, with an increase in the upper limit of cloud formation, one can draw conclusions about the beginning of global cooling. At the present time, their research may indicate that global warming continues.

The warming itself occurs unevenly in certain areas of the Earth. There are areas where the average annual temperature increase significantly exceeds the average for the entire planet, reaching 1.5 - 2.0 ° C. There are also areas where the weather changes even in the direction of cooling. However, the average results show that, overall, over a hundred-year period, the average annual temperature on Earth has increased by about 0.5°C.

The Earth's atmosphere is an open, energy-dissipating system, i.e. it absorbs heat from the sun and the earth's surface, it also radiates heat back to the earth's surface and into outer space. These thermal processes are described by the heat balance of the Earth. In thermal equilibrium, the Earth radiates exactly as much heat into space as it receives from the Sun. This heat balance can be called zero. But the heat balance can be positive when the climate is warming and can be negative when the climate is colder. That is, with a positive balance, the Earth absorbs and accumulates more heat than it radiates into space. With a negative balance - on the contrary. At present, the Earth has a clearly positive heat balance. In February 2012, a message appeared on the Internet about the work of scientists from the United States and France on this topic. Here is an excerpt from the message:

“Scientists have redefined the heat balance of the Earth

Our planet continues to absorb more energy than it returns to space, researchers from the US and France found out. And this despite the extremely long and deep last solar minimum, which meant a reduction in the flow of rays that came from our star. A team of scientists led by James Hansen, director of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), has produced the most accurate estimate to date of the Earth's energy balance for the period 2005 to 2010 inclusive.

It turned out that the planet now absorbs an average of 0.58 watts of excess energy per square meter of surface. This is the current excess of income over consumption. This value is slightly lower than preliminary estimates, but it indicates a long-term increase in the average temperature. (…) Taking into account other ground-based as well as satellite measurements, Hansen and his colleagues determined that the upper layer of the main oceans absorbs 71% of the indicated excess energy, the Southern Ocean another 12%, the abyssal (the zone between 3 and 6 kilometers of depth) absorbs 5% , ice - 8% and land - 4%".

«… the global warming of the last century cannot be blamed on large fluctuations in solar activity. Perhaps in the future, the influence of the Sun on these ratios will change if the prediction of its deep sleep comes true. But so far, the causes of climate change in the last 50-100 years have to be looked for elsewhere. ... ".

Most likely, the search should be in the change in the average pressure of the atmosphere. Adopted in the 20s of the last century, the International Standard Atmosphere (ISA) sets a pressure of 760 mm. rt. Art. at sea level, at a latitude of 45° at an average annual surface temperature of 288K (15°C). But now the atmosphere is not the same as it was 90 - 100 years ago, because. its parameters have obviously changed. Today's warming atmosphere should have an average annual temperature of 15.5°C at the new sea level pressure at the same latitude. The standard model of the earth's atmosphere links temperature and pressure with altitude above sea level, where for every 1000 meters of troposphere height from sea level, the temperature drops by 6.5 ° C. It is easy to calculate that 0.5 ° C accounts for 76.9 meters of height. But if we take this model for a surface temperature of 15.5°C, which we have as a result of global warming, then it will show us 76.9 meters below sea level. This suggests that the old model does not meet today's realities. Reference books tell us that at a temperature of 15 ° C in the lower layers of the atmosphere, the pressure decreases by 1 mm. rt. Art. with a rise of every 11 meters. From here we can find out the pressure difference corresponding to the height difference 76.9 m., and this will be the easiest way to determine the increase in pressure that has led to global warming.

The pressure increase will be equal to:

76,9 / 11 = 6,99 mm. rt. Art.

However, we can more accurately determine the pressure that led to the warming if we turn to the work of an academician (RANS) of the Institute of Oceanology. P.P. Shirshov RAS O.G. Sorokhtina “Adiabatic theory of the greenhouse effect” This theory strictly scientifically defines the greenhouse effect of the planetary atmosphere, gives formulas that determine the surface temperature of the Earth and temperature at any level of the troposphere, and also reveals the complete failure of theories about the influence of “ greenhouse gases” on climate warming. This theory is applicable to explain the change in atmospheric temperature depending on the change in mean atmospheric pressure. According to this theory, both the ISA adopted in the 1920s and the actual atmosphere at the moment must obey the same formula for determining temperature at any level of the troposphere.

So, “If the input signal is the so-called temperature of a completely black body, which characterizes the heating of a body distant from the Sun at a distance of Earth-Sun, only due to the absorption of solar radiation ( Tbb\u003d 278.8 K \u003d +5.6 ° С for the Earth), then the average surface temperature Ts linearly depends on it":

Т s = b α ∙ Т bb ∙ р α , (1)

where b– scale factor (if measurements are carried out in physical atmospheres, then for the Earth b= 1.186 atm–1); Tbb\u003d 278.8 K \u003d + 5.6 ° С - heating of the Earth's surface only due to the absorption of solar radiation; α is the adiabatic index, the average value of which for the moist, infrared-absorbing troposphere of the Earth is 0.1905 ".

As can be seen from the formula, the temperature Ts also depends on the pressure p.

And if we know that the average surface temperature due to global warming has increased by 0.5 ° C and is now 288.5 K (15.5 ° C), then we can find out from this formula what pressure at sea level led to this warming.

Let's transform the equation and find this pressure:

p α = T s : (bα ∙ T bb),

p α \u003d 288.5 : (1,186 0,1905 ∙ 278,8) = 1,001705,

p = 1.008983 atm;

or 102235.25 Pa;

or 766.84 mm. rt. Art.

From the result obtained, it can be seen that the warming was caused by an increase in the average atmospheric pressure by 6,84 mm. rt. Art., which is quite close to the result obtained above. This is a small value, given that weather changes in atmospheric pressure are within 30 - 40 mm. rt. Art. a common occurrence in the area. The pressure difference between a tropical cyclone and a continental anticyclone can reach 175 mm. rt. Art. .

So, a relatively small average annual increase in atmospheric pressure has led to a noticeable warming of the climate. This additional compression by external forces indicates the completion of a certain work. And it doesn't matter how much time was spent on this process - 1 hour, 1 year or 1 century. The result of this work is important - an increase in the temperature of the atmosphere, which indicates an increase in its internal energy. And, since the Earth's atmosphere is an open system, it must give off the resulting excess energy to the environment until a new level of heat balance with a new temperature is established. The environment for the atmosphere is the earth's firmament with the ocean and open space. The earth's firmament with the ocean, as noted above, currently "... continues to absorb more energy than it returns to space". But with radiation into space, the situation is different. The radiative radiation of heat into space is characterized by the radiation (effective) temperature T e, under which this planet is visible from space, and which is defined as follows:

Where σ = 5.67. 10 -5 erg / (cm 2 s. K 4) - Stefan-Boltzmann constant, S is the solar constant at the distance of the planet from the Sun, BUT- albedo, or reflectivity, of a planet, mainly regulated by its cloud cover. For Earth S= 1.367. 10 6 erg / (cm 2. s), BUT≈ 0.3, therefore T e= 255 K (-18 °С);

A temperature of 255 K (-18 °C) corresponds to an altitude of 5000 meters, i.e. height of intense cloud formation, which, according to scientists from New Zealand, has decreased by 30-40 meters over the past 10 years. Consequently, the area of ​​the sphere that radiates heat into space decreases when the atmosphere is compressed from the outside, which means that the radiation of heat into space also decreases. This factor clearly influences warming. Further, from formula (2) it can be seen that the radiation temperature of the Earth's radiation depends practically only on BUT is the Earth's albedo. But any increase in surface temperature increases the evaporation of moisture and increases the cloudiness of the Earth, and this, in turn, increases the reflectivity of the Earth's atmosphere, and hence the albedo of the planet. An increase in albedo leads to a decrease in the radiation temperature of the Earth's radiation, hence, to a decrease in the heat flux escaping into space. It should be noted here that as a result of an increase in albedo, the reflection of solar heat from clouds into space increases and its flow to the earth's surface decreases. But even if the influence of this factor, acting in the opposite direction, completely compensates for the influence of the albedo increase factor, then even then there is the fact that all excess heat remains on the planet. That is why even a slight change in the average atmospheric pressure leads to a noticeable change in climate. The increase in atmospheric pressure is also facilitated by the growth of the atmosphere itself due to an increase in the amount of gases brought in with meteoric matter. This is in general terms the scheme of global warming from an increase in atmospheric pressure, the primary cause of which lies in the impact of cosmic dust on the upper atmosphere.

As already noted, warming occurs unevenly in certain areas of the Earth. Consequently, somewhere there is no increase in pressure, somewhere there is even a decrease, and where there is an increase, it can be explained by the influence of global warming, because temperature and pressure are interdependent in the standard model of the earth's atmosphere. Global warming itself is explained by an increase in the content of man-made "greenhouse gases" in the atmosphere. But in reality this is not so.

To verify this, let us turn once again to Academician O.G. Sorokhtin’s “Adiabatic Theory of the Greenhouse Effect”, where it is scientifically proven that the so-called “greenhouse gases” have nothing to do with global warming. And that even if we replace the Earth's air atmosphere with an atmosphere consisting of carbon dioxide, then this will not lead to warming, but, on the contrary, to some cooling. The only contribution to warming "greenhouse gases" can make an increment of mass to the entire atmosphere and, accordingly, an increase in pressure. But, as it is written in this work:

“According to various estimates, at present, about 5–7 billion tons of carbon dioxide, or 1.4–1.9 billion tons of pure carbon, enter the atmosphere due to the combustion of natural fuel, which not only reduces the heat capacity of the atmosphere, but also slightly increases it. total pressure. These factors act in opposite directions, resulting in very little change in the average temperature of the earth's surface. So, for example, with a twofold increase in the concentration of CO 2 in the earth's atmosphere from 0.035 to 0.07% (by volume), which is expected by 2100, the pressure should increase by 15 Pa, which will cause an increase in temperature by about 7.8 . 10 -3 K".

0.0078°C is really very little. So science is beginning to recognize that neither fluctuations in solar activity nor an increase in the concentration of man-made "greenhouse" gases in the atmosphere affect modern global warming. And the eyes of scientists turn to cosmic dust. This is the following message from the Internet:

Is space dust to blame for climate change? (April 05, 2012,) (…) A new research program has been launched to find out how much of this dust enters the Earth's atmosphere, and how it can affect our climate. It is believed that an accurate assessment of dust will also help in understanding how particles are transported through different layers of the Earth's atmosphere. Scientists from the University of Leeds have already presented a project to study the impact of cosmic dust on the Earth's atmosphere after receiving a grant of 2.5 million euros from the European Research Council. The project is designed for 5 years of research. The international team consists of 11 scientists in Leeds and another 10 research groups in the US and Germany (…)” .

Reassuring message. It seems that science is getting closer to discovering the real cause of climate change.

In connection with all of the above, it can be added that a revision of the basic concepts and physical parameters relating to the Earth's atmosphere is foreseen in the future. The classical definition that atmospheric pressure is created by the gravitational attraction of the air column to the Earth becomes not entirely true. Hence, the value of the mass of the atmosphere, calculated from the atmospheric pressure acting on the entire surface area of ​​the Earth, also becomes incorrect. Everything becomes much more complicated, because. an essential component of atmospheric pressure is the compression of the atmosphere by external forces of magnetic and gravitational attraction of the mass of cosmic dust that saturates the upper layers of the atmosphere.

This additional compression of the Earth's atmosphere has always been, at all times, because. there are no areas in outer space free from cosmic dust. And precisely because of this circumstance, the Earth has enough heat for the development of biological life. As stated in the Mahatma's answer:

“... that the heat that the Earth receives from the rays of the sun is, to the greatest extent, only a third, if not less, of the amount that it receives directly from meteors”, i.e. from meteor dust.

Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan, 2013

Space vacuum has long been a very conventional concept. The space between the planets and even between the stars is far from empty – it is filled with matter in the form of various radiations, fields, flows of elementary particles and… matter. Most of this matter - 99% - is gas (mainly hydrogen, to a lesser extent helium), but there are also solid particles. These particles are also called cosmic dust.

It is truly ubiquitous: there is interstellar and interplanetary dust - however, it is not always easy to distinguish between them, because interstellar dust can also enter interplanetary space ... but if you go beyond the solar system, preferably further away, you can find interstellar dust "in its purest form" , without interplanetary admixture ... Yes, the Solar System - cosmic dust constantly settles on Earth, and the count goes to tens of kilotons per year, there is even an assumption that 24% of the dust that settles in two weeks in a locked apartment is precisely cosmic dust!

What is cosmic dust? As already mentioned, these are solid particles scattered in outer space. Their size is small: the largest particles reach 0.1 micrometer (a thousandth of the length of a millimeter), and the smallest - in general, several molecules. The chemical composition of interplanetary dust practically does not differ from the composition of meteorites that fall to Earth from time to time, but the interstellar dust in this planet is more interesting. Its particles have - in addition to a solid core - also a shell that differs from the poison in composition. The core is carbon, silicon metals, it is surrounded by the nuclei of atoms of gaseous elements, which in the conditions of interstellar space quickly crystallize ("freeze" on the core) - this is the shell. However, crystallization processes can also affect the cores of dust particles, in particular those that consist of carbon. In this case, crystals of ... diamond can form (this is how the space pirate from the work of Kir Bulychev, who poured diamond dust into the lubricant of robots on the planet Shelezyak, is recalled!).

But this is not the greatest miracle that can occur during carbon crystallization - while carbon atoms can line up in hollow balls (so-called fullerenes), inside which particles of the atmosphere of ancient stars are enclosed ... the study of such a substance could shed light on many things!

Although the particles of cosmic dust are so small, it is difficult not to notice them if they collect in dust clouds. The thickness of the gas and dust layer of our galaxy is measured in hundreds of light years, most of the matter is concentrated in the spiral arms.

In a number of cases, dust clouds actually "obscure" the stars for us, and even from the cluster, absorbing their light - in this case, the dust clouds look like black holes. Cosmic dust absorbs blue rays best of all, and red rays least of all, so the light of a star passing through the interstellar medium filled with cosmic dust “turns red”.

Where does all this splendor come from? Let's start with the fact that initially in the Universe there were only molecular clouds of hydrogen ... all other elements were born (and continue to be born) in the cores of stars - these grandiose "fusion reactors". Atmospheres of young stars - red dwarfs - slowly expire into outer space, old massive stars, exploding at the end of their "life cycle", eject a huge amount of matter into space. In interstellar space, these substances (at first in a gaseous state) condense, forming stable groups of atoms or even molecules. Other atoms or molecules join such groups, entering into a chemical reaction with existing ones (this process is called chemisorption), and if the concentration of such particles is high enough, they can even stick together without breaking down.

This is how cosmic dust is born... and we can rightfully say that it has a great future: after all, it is from gas and dust clouds that new stars with planetary systems are born!

Hello. In this lecture, we will talk to you about dust. But not about the one that accumulates in your rooms, but about cosmic dust. What is it?

Space dust is very small particles of solid matter found in any part of the universe, including meteoritic dust and interstellar matter that can absorb starlight and form dark nebulae in galaxies. Spherical dust particles about 0.05 mm in diameter are found in some marine sediments; it is believed that these are the remains of those 5,000 tons of cosmic dust that annually fall on the globe.

Scientists believe that cosmic dust is formed not only from the collision, the destruction of small solid bodies, but also due to the thickening of interstellar gas. Cosmic dust is distinguished by its origin: dust is intergalactic, interstellar, interplanetary and circumplanetary (usually in a ring system).

Cosmic dust grains arise mainly in the slowly expiring atmospheres of red dwarf stars, as well as in explosive processes on stars and in the rapid ejection of gas from the nuclei of galaxies. Other sources of cosmic dust are planetary and protostellar nebulae, stellar atmospheres, and interstellar clouds.

Entire clouds of cosmic dust, which are in the layer of stars that form the Milky Way, prevent us from observing distant star clusters. A star cluster like the Pleiades is completely submerged in a dust cloud. The brightest stars that are in this cluster illuminate the dust, as a lantern illuminates the fog at night. Cosmic dust can only shine by reflected light.

Blue rays of light passing through cosmic dust are attenuated more than red ones, so the light of stars reaching us appears yellowish and even reddish. Entire regions of world space remain closed to observation precisely because of cosmic dust.

Interplanetary dust, at least in comparative proximity to the Earth, is a fairly well-studied matter. Filling the entire space of the solar system and concentrated in the plane of its equator, it was born for the most part as a result of random collisions of asteroids and the destruction of comets approaching the Sun. The composition of dust, in fact, does not differ from the composition of meteorites falling to the Earth: it is very interesting to study it, and there are still a lot of discoveries to be made in this area, but there seems to be no particular intrigue here. But thanks to this particular dust, in fine weather in the west immediately after sunset or in the east before sunrise, you can admire a pale cone of light above the horizon. This is the so-called zodiacal - sunlight scattered by small cosmic dust particles.

Much more interesting is interstellar dust. Its distinctive feature is the presence of a solid core and shell. The core appears to consist mainly of carbon, silicon, and metals. And the shell is mainly made of gaseous elements frozen on the surface of the nucleus, crystallized in the conditions of “deep freezing” of interstellar space, and this is about 10 kelvins, hydrogen and oxygen. However, there are impurities of molecules in it and more complicated. These are ammonia, methane, and even polyatomic organic molecules that stick to a grain of dust or form on its surface during wanderings. Some of these substances, of course, fly away from its surface, for example, under the action of ultraviolet radiation, but this process is reversible - some fly away, others freeze or are synthesized.

If the galaxy has formed, then where does the dust come from - in principle, scientists understand. Its most significant sources are novae and supernovae, which lose part of their mass, "dumping" the shell into the surrounding space. In addition, dust is also born in the expanding atmosphere of red giants, from where it is literally swept away by radiation pressure. In their cool, by the standards of stars, atmosphere (about 2.5 - 3 thousand kelvins) there are quite a lot of relatively complex molecules.
But here's a mystery that hasn't been solved yet. It has always been believed that dust is a product of the evolution of stars. In other words, stars must be born, exist for some time, grow old and, say, produce dust in the last supernova explosion. What came first, the egg or the chicken? The first dust necessary for the birth of a star, or the first star, which for some reason was born without the help of dust, grew old, exploded, forming the very first dust.
What was in the beginning? After all, when the Big Bang happened 14 billion years ago, there were only hydrogen and helium in the Universe, no other elements! It was then that the first galaxies, huge clouds, and in them the first stars began to emerge from them, which had to go a long way in life. Thermonuclear reactions in the cores of stars were supposed to “weld” more complex chemical elements, turn hydrogen and helium into carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and so on, and only after that the star had to throw it all into space, exploding or gradually dropping the shell. Then this mass had to cool, cool down and, finally, turn into dust. But already 2 billion years after the Big Bang, in the earliest galaxies, there was dust! With the help of telescopes, it was discovered in galaxies that are 12 billion light years away from ours. At the same time, 2 billion years is too short a period for the full life cycle of a star: during this time, most stars do not have time to grow old. Where the dust came from in the young Galaxy, if there should be nothing but hydrogen and helium, is a mystery.

Looking at the time, the professor smiled slightly.

But you will try to unravel this mystery at home. Let's write the task.

Homework.

1. Try to reason about what appeared first, the first star or is it still dust?

Additional task.

1. Report about any kind of dust (interstellar, interplanetary, circumplanetary, intergalactic)

2. Composition. Imagine yourself as a scientist assigned to investigate space dust.

3. Pictures.

homemade task for students:

1. Why is dust needed in space?

Additional task.

1. Report about any kind of dust. Former students of the school remember the rules.

2. Composition. Disappearance of cosmic dust.

3. Pictures.

Space exploration (meteor)dust on the surface of the earth:problem overview

BUT.P.Boyarkina, L.M. Gindilis

Space dust as an astronomical factor

Cosmic dust refers to particles of solid matter ranging in size from fractions of a micron to several microns. Dust 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 on the Earth's surface in the form of the so-called meteor dust, being one of the forms of material (material and energy) exchange in the Space-Earth system. At the same time, it influences a number of processes occurring on the 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 the gas is 1 hydrogen atom per cubic centimeter or 10 -24 g/cm 3 . The dust density is correspondingly 100 times less. Despite such an insignificant density, dusty matter has a significant impact on the processes occurring in the Cosmos. First of all, interstellar dust absorbs light, because of this, distant objects located near the plane of the galaxy (where the dust concentration is greatest) are 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 by the photometric method. Accounting for absorption is one of the most important problems in observational astronomy. When interacting with dust, the spectral composition and polarization of light change.

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 medium. Dense gas and dust clouds do not let in the light of the stars behind them. Therefore, they look like dark areas in the sky, which are called dark nebulae. An example is the Coal Sack region in the Milky Way or the Horsehead Nebula in the constellation Orion. If there are bright stars near the 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 most dense are the clouds of molecular hydrogen H 2 , their density is 10 4 -10 5 times higher than in the clouds of atomic hydrogen. Accordingly, the dust density is the same number of times higher. In addition to hydrogen, molecular clouds contain dozens of other molecules. Dust particles are the condensation nuclei of molecules; chemical reactions occur on their surface with the formation of new, more complex molecules. Molecular clouds are an area of ​​intense star formation.

By 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) with a size of 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 in the late stages of their evolution (especially during supernova explosions). On the other hand, it is itself 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 during the crushing of asteroids. The formation of dust occurs continuously, and the process of dust particles falling on the Sun under the action of radiative braking is also continuously going on. As a result, a constantly renewing dusty medium is formed that fills interplanetary space and is in a state of dynamic equilibrium. Although its density is higher than in interstellar space, it is still very small: 10 -23 -10 -21 g/cm 3 . However, it noticeably scatters sunlight. When it is scattered by particles of interplanetary dust, such optical phenomena as zodiacal light, the Fraunhofer component of the solar corona, the zodiac band, and counterradiance arise. Scattering on dust particles also determines the zodiacal component of the glow of the night sky.

Dust matter in the solar system is strongly concentrated towards the ecliptic. In the plane of the ecliptic, its density decreases approximately in proportion 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 decreasing (due to radiative braking) elliptical orbits. Their speed is several tens of kilometers per second. When colliding with solid bodies, including spacecraft, they cause noticeable surface erosion.

Colliding with the Earth and burning up 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 meteor particles, and the whole complex of interplanetary dust is often called meteoric matter or meteoric dust. Most meteor 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 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 predominate, and at altitudes below 70 km - asteroidal particles with an average density of 3.5 g/cm 3 .

As a result of the crushing of loose meteor bodies of cometary origin at altitudes of 100-400 km from the Earth's surface, a rather dense dust shell is formed, the dust concentration in which is tens of thousands of times higher than in interplanetary space. 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 meteor 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 out when flying through the atmosphere; the second - due to the fact that their interaction with the atmosphere, due to their negligible mass (at a sufficiently high density), occurs without noticeable destruction.

Fallout of cosmic dust on the Earth's surface

If meteorites have long been in the field of view of science, then cosmic dust has not attracted the attention of scientists for a long time.

The concept of cosmic (meteor) 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-1970s, Murray (I. Murray) described rounded magnetite particles found in sediments of deep-sea sediments of the Pacific Ocean, the origin of which was also associated with cosmic dust. However, these assumptions did not find confirmation 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 outer space not only through the exchange of different forms of energy. It is closely connected with them materially... Among the material bodies falling on our planet from outer space, meteorites and cosmic dust usually ranked among them are available to our direct study... Meteorites - and at least in some part the fireballs associated with them - are for us, always unexpected in its manifestation ... Cosmic dust is another matter: everything indicates that it falls continuously, and perhaps this continuity of fall exists at every point in the biosphere, is distributed evenly 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 the known largest meteorites in this article, V.I. Vernadsky pays special attention to the Tunguska meteorite, which was searched under his direct supervision by L.A. Sandpiper. Large fragments of the meteorite were not found, and in connection with this, V.I. Vernadsky makes the assumption that he "... is a new phenomenon in the annals of science - the penetration into the area of ​​\u200b\u200bterrestrial gravity not of a meteorite, but of a huge cloud or clouds of cosmic dust moving at cosmic speed» .

To the same topic, V.I. Vernadsky returns in February 1941 in his report "On the need to organize 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 of searching for and collecting the substance of cosmic dust that has fallen on the Earth's surface, with the help of which, he believes, it is possible to solve a number of problems scientific cosmogony on the qualitative composition and "dominant significance 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, V.I. Vernadsky noted, possesses atomic and other nuclear energy, which is not indifferent in its existence in the Cosmos 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 snow and glacial natural plates of high-mountainous and arctic regions remote from human industrial activity.

The Great Patriotic War and the death of V.I. Vernadsky, prevented the implementation of this program. However, it became topical in the second half of the 20th century and contributed to the intensification of studies of meteor dust in our country.

In 1946, on the initiative of Academician V.G. Fesenkov organized an expedition to the mountains of the Trans-Ili Ala-Tau (Northern Tien Shan), whose task was to study solid particles with magnetic properties in snow deposits. The snow sampling site was chosen on the left lateral 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 contamination with earth dust. It was removed from sources of dust associated with human activity, 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 spatula, transferred and melted in an aluminum container, merged into a glass container, where a solid fraction precipitated for 5 hours. Then the upper part of the water was drained, a new batch of melted snow was added, and so on. As a result, 85 buckets of snow were melted from a total area of ​​1.5 m 2 , with a volume of 1.1 m 3 . The resulting precipitate 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 came to the conclusion 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 meteor dust occurred in the middle of the 20th century, when, in connection with the launches of artificial Earth satellites, direct methods for studying meteor particles were developed - their direct registration by the number of collisions with a spacecraft or various types of traps (installed on satellites and geophysical rockets, launched to a height of several hundred kilometers). An analysis of the obtained materials made it possible, in particular, to detect the presence of a dust 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, particles were studied in the lower atmosphere and various natural accumulators: in high-mountain 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, weight is from 10 -11 to 10 -6 g.

Another direction is connected 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, counterradiance, etc. Their study also makes it possible to obtain important data on cosmic dust. Meteor studies were included in the program of the International Geophysical Year 1957-1959 and 1964-1965.

As a result of these works, estimates of the total influx of cosmic dust to the Earth's surface were refined. According to T.N. Nazarova, I.S. Astapovich and V.V. Fedynsky, the total influx of cosmic dust to the Earth reaches up to 107 tons/year. According to A.N. Simonenko and B.Yu. Levin (according to data for 1972), the influx 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 continued to collect meteoric dust. At the suggestion of Academician A.P. Vinogradov during the 14th Antarctic expedition (1968-1969), work was carried out in order to identify the patterns of spatio-temporal distributions of the deposition of extraterrestrial matter in the ice sheet of Antarctica. The surface layer of snow cover was studied in the areas of Molodezhnaya, Mirny, Vostok stations and in the area of ​​about 1400 km between Mirny and Vostok stations. Snow sampling was carried out from pits 2-5 m deep at points remote from polar stations. Samples were packed in polyethylene bags or special plastic containers. Under stationary conditions, the samples were melted in a glass or aluminum dish. The resulting water was filtered using a collapsible 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.

The polar ice , bottom sediments of the Pacific Ocean , sedimentary rocks , and salt deposits were also studied . At the same time, the search for melted microscopic spherical particles, which are quite easily identified among other dust fractions, proved to be a promising direction.

In 1962, the Commission on Meteorites and Cosmic Dust was established at the Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences, headed by Academician V.S. Sobolev, which existed until 1990 and whose creation was initiated by the problem of the Tunguska meteorite. Works on the study of cosmic dust were 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, we used peat composed of brown sphagnum moss according to the method of the Tomsk scientist Yu.A. Lvov. This moss is quite widespread in the middle zone of the globe, receives mineral nutrition only from the atmosphere and has the ability to conserve it in a layer that was surface when dust hit it. Layer-by-layer stratification and dating of peat makes it possible to give a retrospective assessment of its loss. Both spherical particles 7–100 µm in size and the microelement composition of the peat substrate were studied, as functions of the dust contained in it.

The procedure for separating cosmic dust from peat is as follows. On the site of the raised sphagnum bog, a site is selected with a flat surface and a peat deposit composed of brown sphagnum moss (Sphagnum fuscum Klingr). Shrubs are cut off 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 is marked at its side (for example, 10x10 cm), then a peat column is exposed on two or three of its sides, cut into layers of 3 cm each, which are packed in plastic bags. The upper 6 layers (tows) are considered together and can serve to determine the age characteristics according to the method of E.Ya. Muldiyarova and E.D. Lapshina. Each layer is washed under laboratory conditions 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 allowed to settle until a complete precipitation, then the precipitate is poured into a Petri dish, where it is dried. Packed 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 at a magnification of 56 times to identify spherical particles of 7-100 microns or more in size, or subjected to other types of analysis. Because Since this moss receives mineral nutrition only from the atmosphere, its ash component may 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 sources of man-made pollution, made it possible to estimate the influx of spherical particles 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 during the study; layers dating back to 1908 - substances of the Tunguska meteorite; the lower (pre-industrial) layers - cosmic dust. The influx of cosmic microspherules to the Earth's surface is estimated at (2-4)·10 3 t/year, and in general, cosmic dust - 1.5·10 9 t/year. Analytical methods of analysis, in particular, neutron activation, were used to determine the trace element composition of cosmic dust. According to these data, annually on the Earth's surface falls from outer space (t/year): iron (2·10 6), cobalt (150), scandium (250).

Of great interest in terms of the above studies are the works of E.M. Kolesnikova and co-authors, who discovered isotopic anomalies in the peat of the area where the Tunguska meteorite fell, 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 substance that fell on the Earth's surface.

The most complete review of the problem of the Tunguska meteorite, including its substance, for 2000 should be recognized as the monograph by V.A. Bronshten. The latest data on the substance 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 the study of cosmic dust, a number of problems still remain unresolved.

Sources of metascientific knowledge about cosmic dust

Along with the data obtained by modern methods of research, the information contained in non-scientific sources is of great interest: “Letters of the Mahatmas”, the Teaching of Living Ethics, letters and works of E.I. Roerich (in particular, in her work "Study of Human Properties", where an extensive program of scientific research is given for many years to come).

So in a letter from Kut Humi in 1882 to the editor of the influential English-language newspaper "Pioneer" A.P. Sinnett (the original letter is kept in the British Museum) gives the following data on cosmic dust:

- “High above our earthly surface, the air is saturated and the space is filled with magnetic and meteoric dust, which does not even belong to our solar system”;

- "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 similar meteors and the finest particles reach us every year and every day”;

- “every atmospheric change on the Earth and all perturbations come from the combined magnetism” of two large “masses” - the Earth and meteoric dust;

There is "the terrestrial magnetic attraction of meteor dust and the latter's direct effect on sudden changes in temperature, especially with regard to heat and cold";

Because “our earth, with all the other planets, is rushing through space, it receives most of the cosmic dust on its northern hemisphere than on its southern”; “... this explains the quantitative predominance of 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, to the greatest extent, only a third, if not less, of the amount it receives directly from meteors”;

- “Powerful accumulations 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 photometry.

A number of these provisions were ahead of the science of that time and were confirmed by subsequent studies. Thus, 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 particles plays a predominant role. The first observations made with the help of artificial satellites led to the discovery of a dust shell of the Earth at altitudes of several hundred kilometers, as indicated in the above-mentioned letter from Kut Hoomi. Of particular interest are data on 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. Accounting for interstellar extinction led to a reassessment of the scale of astronomical distances and, as a result, to a change in the scale of the visible Universe.

Some provisions of this letter - about the influence of cosmic dust on processes in the atmosphere, in particular on the weather - have not yet found scientific confirmation. Here further study is needed.

Let us turn to another 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 twentieth 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.

The problem of cosmic dust, in particular its influx to the Earth's surface, is given quite a lot of attention in the Teaching of Living Ethics.

“Pay attention to high places exposed to winds from snowy peaks. At the level of twenty-four thousand feet, one can observe special deposits of meteoric dust" (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). "Meteor dust is inaccessible to the eye, but 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).

Much attention is paid to the issues of cosmic dust in the Cosmological Records by E.I. Roerich (1940). It should be borne in mind that H.I. Roerich closely followed the development of astronomy and was aware of its latest achievements; she critically evaluated 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 Cosmological Records of E.I. Roerich contain a number of provisions on those processes that are 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 cosmic matter that carries information about the Far Worlds of outer space;

Cosmic dust changes the composition of soils, snow, natural waters and plants;

This is especially true for the places where natural ores occur, which are not only a kind of magnets that attract cosmic dust, but we should also expect some differentiation depending on the type of ore: “So iron and other metals attract meteors, especially when the 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 own rhythm on the peaks";

The study of cosmic dust can lead to the discovery of new minerals not yet discovered by modern science, in particular, a metal that has properties that help to keep vibrations with the distant worlds of outer space;

When studying cosmic dust, new types of microbes and bacteria may be discovered;

But what is especially important, the Living Ethics Teaching opens a new page of scientific knowledge - the impact of cosmic dust on living organisms, including man and his energy. It can have various effects on the human body and some processes on the physical and, especially, subtle planes.

This information is beginning to be confirmed in modern scientific research. So in recent years, complex organic compounds have been discovered on cosmic dust particles, and some scientists have started talking about cosmic microbes. In this regard, of particular interest are the works on bacterial paleontology carried out at the Institute of Paleontology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In these works, in addition to terrestrial rocks, meteorites were studied. It is shown that the microfossils 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 demonstrate the positive effect of cosmic matter on plant growth and substantiate the possibility of its influence on the human body.

The authors of the Teaching of Living Ethics strongly recommend organizing constant monitoring of the fallout of cosmic dust. And as its natural accumulator, 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 want to give a synthesis of achievements in this City, therefore all areas of science should subsequently be represented in it ... The study of new cosmic rays, which give humanity new most valuable energies, possible only at heights, because all the most subtle and most valuable and powerful lies in the purer layers of the atmosphere. Also, don’t all the meteor showers that fall on snowy peaks and are carried down to the valleys by mountain streams deserve attention? .

Conclusion

The study of cosmic dust has now become an independent area of ​​modern astrophysics and geophysics. This problem is especially topical, since meteoric dust is a source of cosmic matter and energy that is continuously brought to the Earth from outer space and actively influences geochemical and geophysical processes, as well as having a peculiar effect on biological objects, including humans. These processes are still largely unexplored. In the study of cosmic dust, a number of provisions contained in the sources of metascientific knowledge have not been properly applied. Meteor dust manifests itself in terrestrial conditions not only as a phenomenon of the physical world, but also as matter that carries the energy of outer space, including the worlds of other dimensions and other states of matter. Accounting for these provisions 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 reservoirs.

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