Micrometeorites and Their Earthly Imposters: Images from 'In Search of Stardust' (Gallery)

By Calla Cofield
published

From Whence It Came

Jon Larsen

A volchovite is a unique type of spherule found near the Volkhov River, near St. Petersburg, Russia, according to the book. These spherules may be volcanic and can be composed of a variety of trace elements. Some of the spherules contain small metal beads made of titanium, iron, gold and copper, according to the book. This image shows a volchovite in which the bead was about to escape from the spherule but was frozen at the very last moment.

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Calla Cofield
Calla Cofield
Senior Writer

Calla Cofield joined Space.com's crew in October 2014. She enjoys writing about black holes, exploding stars, ripples in space-time, science in comic books, and all the mysteries of the cosmos. Prior to joining Space.com Calla worked as a freelance writer, with her work appearing in APS News, Symmetry magazine, Scientific American, Nature News, Physics World, and others. From 2010 to 2014 she was a producer for The Physics Central Podcast. Previously, Calla worked at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City (hands down the best office building ever) and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in California. Calla studied physics at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and is originally from Sandy, Utah. In 2018, Calla left Space.com to join NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory media team where she oversees astronomy, physics, exoplanets and the Cold Atom Lab mission. She has been underground at three of the largest particle accelerators in the world and would really like to know what the heck dark matter is. Contact Calla via: E-Mail – Twitter