by Adewale Olowode

Created on: August 07, 2008

The Earth is the only gift the universe has given to man.Dated back to about 4.5 billion years ago,it has a shape,described as geoid,as distinct from a sphere,but have a much more closer resemblance to what is called "an oblate spheroid." Uniquely the third planet in the solar system,the planet Earth is the only planet habitable by man in the "The Milky Way ."

Different cultures of the world have one thing or the other to say about the origin and form of our dear planet,and both oral as well as written ideas are well-known.However,no one has been able to surpass the creativity and ingenuity of scientists.Science has come with a much more better perception of the planet.Now,we know that the planet Earth is a product of some successive stages,like it is found in man and other other life forms,known as evolution.The planet Earth is known to have evolved from a combination of particles and dusts,also known as "solar nebula," which was formed as a result of a spontaneous action,the details of which more research is still required to elucidate.For now,the spontaneous action is thought to be the results of a gravitational collapse of a giant molecular cloud.
What's more?The Earth is not alone in the evolution process,as other planets are also known to have evolved similarly.

What then is space dust?Space dust,also called cosmic dust,consists of dust grains and aggregates of dust grains,irregularly shaped,and highly porous.Their composition depends on where they are found,and could be realized by doing a compositional analysis.As they arrive in the Earth's atmosphere,cosmic dust is charged with helium atom by solar wind. Cosmic dusts have radiative properties,which could be detected by both direct and indirect methods.Only recently,scientists have confirmed the presence of a slow steady rain of cosmic space dust always falling through the Earth's atmosphere.A record dated back to 30,000 years was uncovered in an ice core in Antarctica.

At the inception of astronomy,space particles and dusts appeared to be a burden to astronomers who were only interested in using telescope to watch distant stars and galaxies,because such particles tend to block their vision,a situation which render visibility to almost zero.But quite unknown to them,the same dust that poses visibility problem,is perhaps the single most important source of the information they are looking for about the planet Earth,other planets,and the entire universe.Discovering the truth about space dust changed the course

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