Origin Story

Why interstellardust.org? The easiest answer is that interstellardust.com was already taken.

In the past couple of years, I've often been asked if I had a website where I show my photos, and until now, I had to tell folks that the answer was no. I do have an Instagram account (@tropharvey), but there are times where I'd like to provide more insight into what I experienced or how the particular photo came about, and having this website will allow me to do that.

As for the name itself, it dates back to when I was in college at UC Berkeley in the early 1970's. Bill Garnett (*) and I would often talk about starting our own corporation and Interstellar Dust was born. At the time, it was the only "business" that provided critical industrial materials and products derived from interstellar dust to the rest of the world's economy. Of course, getting your hands on actual interstellar dust was a problem, but that only served to justify the vast profits to be had. I remember one slogan we came up with, "You know it's a must, if it's interstellar dust!" Interstellar Dust lives on, not only in this website, but Bill has some very nice aerial videos that are "Interstellar Dust Productions". You can find an example of his work here: https://vimeo.com/234934073

(*) Bill and I first met as freshmen, where we were both chemistry majors and lived on the same floor of Norton Hall. Though Bill turned to the dark side (Geology), we've stayed friends and in my Senior year, he and I, along with two other UC Berkeley students, rented a penthouse apartment near Lake Merritt, in Oakland. And why is interstellardust.com not available? Bill beat me to it!