The Microcosmos Shows Us the Very Small

A Miniature Universe Under a Scanning Electron Microscope

We as astronomers are always looking out to space, to see the latest and greatest among the planets, stars, and galaxies. But, what’s out there isn’t the sum total of the cosmos. There’s a lot right here to study, too — and it takes an understanding of biology, chemistry, physics, and geology to appreciate the whole cosmos — even the planet we inhabit.

Have you ever wondered what happens when we turn our fantastic technology inward, to look at the universe of the very small? Say, what a rock looks like if you break it up into its component elements? Or, whether that piece of rock you found is a meteorite or an Earth rock? Or, what your hair or skin cells look like, up close and personal?  Of course, we know about atoms and molecules that make up all of the matter we can detect (the so-called “baryonic matter”).  But, what do they look like when combined, say, if we could look at a rock under a scanning electron microscope?

The results often look as otherworldly as scenes from Mars or one of the moons of Jupiter. That micro-universe, the miniature cosmos, is what a number of scientists (like geologists and biologists and physicists) study at a level that is too small for our eyes to detect. And the images they produce using high-resolution microscopes and scanning devices are amazing!

Have you ever wondered what common, everyday objects look like under a scanning electron microscope?  Well, you have a chance to find out. Here’s how:  I got an email about my image of Mars and Moon posted a few days ago from a reader who works for a ASPEX, a company that makes this kind of equipment for use in research. He alerted me to a cool project his company is doing with scanning electron microscopes called Send us Your Sample, and it does just what you think the name suggests — scans a sample of whatever you send in.  There are instructions on the page linked above that tell you what to send and how to submit it. So, if you’ve ever wanted to know what a piece of dirt or candy or a dust bunny or whatever — looks like at high magnification, go to their website and put in an entry.

I understand the project is going on for another month and it seems like it would be a very cool way for schoolkids (for example) to learn more about the structure of things we see every day.  It’s a part of science that you need to know and understand if you’re going to know and understand the cosmos. Check it out!