Citizen scientists will then be encouraged to gather sediment from rooftops and gutters and use magnets, sieves, and microscopes provided by the project to isolate potential micrometeorites.
Grimes said: “You just need a dustpan and brush to brush the stuff out of a gutter or off a flat roof.
“You need a bowl to wash it in, to wash away that organic matter, a sieve to get it to the right size fraction and then a magnet to sort out the magnetic fraction because these micrometeorites have got iron in them.”
The isolated candidate particles will then be analysed at the Plymouth Electron Microscopy Centre, and their discoveries will be shared on a project website and a public exhibition.
Grimes said it was almost impossible to see a micrometeorite with the naked eye.
“These particles measure less than a millimetre, meaning that if you look on the roof of your house or in a gutter, you wouldn’t be able to distinguish something that has come from outer space from any other particles or debris.”