With their video surveillance camera, a Canadian couple filmed the impact of a meteorite in the driveway of their house. If the fall of meteorites on Earth is common, these images, accompanied by sound, are rare according to scientists.
An astonishing discovery at the foot of their house. In Canada, in Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island, a couple captured on video the impact of a meteorite on their porch, the University of Alberta reported this Monday, January 13.
This object of extraterrestrial origin was invited into their garden on July 25. As Joe Velaidum and Laura Kelly return from a short walk with their dogs, they notice gray star-shaped dust on their driveway and “black debris everywhere.”
“The first thing I thought was that something had fallen off the roof,” says Joe Velaidum at -. But Laura Kelly's parents, who live in the house next door, claim to have heard a shattering noise and are tracking the meteorite. To find out for certain, these Canadians decided to consult their video surveillance camera. The images and sound of impact leave no room for doubt.
“What was most shocking to me was seeing that I was standing in the same place exactly two minutes before the impact,” he exclaims.
Before continuing: “I never stand in this specific spot, but that day, we were waiting for a visit from a landscaper. The dog's leash was dragging so I was there trying to move the leash. It almost cost me my life.”
Once the surprise wore off, the couple decided to collect the debris samples and contact the meteorite collection at the University of Alberta.
-“I've heard that other times sounds have been recorded, but not like this: where you see the rock hitting the surface, breaking and then you hear the sound at the same time,” explains the radio American NPR Chris Herd, professor and curator of the meteorite collection at the University of Alberta who took up the case.
Meteorites arriving on Earth are far from rare: According to NASA, at least 48 tons of meteorite-like material falls every day. “But often, it’s in the ocean or far from populations. So, it’s rather rare that there are meteorites that we see falling,” explains to -, the astrophysicist and professor of the department of physics and astronomy from the University of Moncton, Francis LeBlanc.
According to a university statement, it is “probably the first and only time the sound of a meteorite hitting Earth has been recorded.”
“From the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter”
Using the samples recovered, Professor Chris Herd determined that this meteorite was a chondrite, the most common type of space rock to strike this planet. Being the size of “half a fist”, this meteorite would have struck the ground with a speed of around 200 km/h, creating a cavity of 2 centimeters.
This meteorite “comes from the asteroid belt… between Mars and Jupiter, so it has traveled a long way”, adds the scientist.
Enough to mark Joe Velaidum. “This thing has traveled millions and millions of miles and is so old that we can't even estimate its age. It entered the atmosphere of a small planet we call Earth, and then came to our small island […] then on our doorstep,” he marvels.
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