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Step 4Preserving and presenting your catch
Now that you have found your micrometeorites, you need to preserve them so that you can give them as a gift.
The first thing to do is to leave the slide alone. You want the micrometeorites to dry out, but if you use any sort of blowing to dry them, you run the very real risk of them blowing away.
Stand the slide somewhere warm, horizontal and draught-free. On a radiator is good, or on a clear shelf in an airing cupboard. If you're in a rush, hold the slide by one corner and rest it a-top a lit tungsten bulb.
When the slide is dry, the micrometeorites need fixing and protecting from water. There are "proper" preservative agents you can buy from specialist suppliers, but two very suitable alternatives are "super" glue or clear nail-varnish. I would probably recommend the glue, as it is less likely to trap bubbles of air.
Being very careful, add a drop of glue (if your varnish is in a container that won't drip, use a needle or pin, dipped into the varnish to pick up a single drop of varnish) to each of the micrometeorites you have identified, and leave it to dry.
When it is dry, use the permanent marker to label the slide with the details of what it is, and why it is significant - Fallen stars gathered from the birthsign of my darling.
The first thing to do is to leave the slide alone. You want the micrometeorites to dry out, but if you use any sort of blowing to dry them, you run the very real risk of them blowing away.
Stand the slide somewhere warm, horizontal and draught-free. On a radiator is good, or on a clear shelf in an airing cupboard. If you're in a rush, hold the slide by one corner and rest it a-top a lit tungsten bulb.
When the slide is dry, the micrometeorites need fixing and protecting from water. There are "proper" preservative agents you can buy from specialist suppliers, but two very suitable alternatives are "super" glue or clear nail-varnish. I would probably recommend the glue, as it is less likely to trap bubbles of air.
Being very careful, add a drop of glue (if your varnish is in a container that won't drip, use a needle or pin, dipped into the varnish to pick up a single drop of varnish) to each of the micrometeorites you have identified, and leave it to dry.
When it is dry, use the permanent marker to label the slide with the details of what it is, and why it is significant - Fallen stars gathered from the birthsign of my darling.
- To present your slide, use photo album corners to fix it inside an appropriate card, or online scientific stores and certain auction sites sell card packs that will hold a single slide. If you want to make more of a fuss of the gift, you can cut a rectangular hole in a piece of mounting board and present the slide framed - your loved one will then be able to hang your gift on the wall, even if they can't view them properly with a microscope.
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Actually, I think it would look better on some white plastic rather than on glass--they looked better under the microscope when I put white cardboard under the slide. I was using a flashlight (and later reflected sunlight) to illuminate the slide.
I also found a nice trick for picking them up. You wet a toothpick with acetone. (Rubbing alcohol might work, too.) They stick for transit while the toothpick is wet, and come off easily because the acetone dries quickly.
Catch a falling star
put it in your pocket
save it for a rainy day...