Cosmic Dust: Building Blocks of Planets Falling from the Sky

Research Article| June 01, 2016 Cosmic Dust: Building Blocks of Planets Falling from the Sky Donald E. Brownlee Donald E. Brownlee 1University of Washington, Department of AstronomyBox 351580, Seattle WA 98195, USAE-mail: brownlee@astro.washington.edu Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Donald E. Brownlee 1University of Washington, Department of AstronomyBox 351580, Seattle WA 98195, USAE-mail: brownlee@astro.washington.edu Publisher: Mineralogical Society of America First Online: 09 Mar 2017 Online Issn: 1811-5217 Print Issn: 1811-5209 © 2016 by the Mineralogical Society of America Elements (2016) 12 (3): 165–170. https://doi.org/10.2113/gselements.12.3.165 Article history First Online: 09 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Donald E. Brownlee; Cosmic Dust: Building Blocks of Planets Falling from the Sky. Elements 2016;; 12 (3): 165–170. doi: https://doi.org/10.2113/gselements.12.3.165 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyElements Search Advanced Search Abstract Throughout its history, Earth has accreted microscopic dust falling from space. Decelerating from cosmic speeds at the top of the atmosphere, the smallest particles can take weeks to reach the ground, failing a rate of 1 m−2 day−1. Although usually hidden among terrestrial materials, extraterrestrial particles can be collected from select environments and positively identified by their unique properties. Unmelted cosmic dust is often composed of large numbers of smaller silicate, sulfide, and organic components—the preserved materials from the early Solar System. Cosmic dust particles are samples of comets and asteroids and they are important samples of the initial materials that were to build the solid planets. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.