First it was a pink moon, and then a strawberry moon.
Then on Wednesday night, a meteorite streaked across the sky over Montreal before landing in the Eastern Townships.
According to a report from Noovo Info, Space for Life has confirmed that three DOMe (Detection and Observation of Meteors) stations in Montréal, Frelighsburg and Valcourt recorded the event as the meteorite lit up the night sky on Wednesday evening around 9 p.m.
Space for Life estimates the object weighed several hundred grams and likely landed in or near the Lac Brome area—though the exact location depends on the precision of the scientists' calculations.
This isn’t the first celestial event of its kind in Quebec.
Last June, another meteorite was seen soaring over much of the province before crashing in the Saint-Wenceslas area of the Mauricie region.
What is a meteorite?
A meteorite is a piece of a meteoroid, asteroid, or comet that makes it through a planet’s atmosphere and reaches the ground.
In simple terms, it’s a space rock that has fallen to Earth—or to another planet.
As a meteoroid enters Earth’s atmosphere at high speed, the friction with the air generates extreme heat—sometimes exceeding 2,000°C.
This intense heat causes the object to burn and partially vaporize, producing the brilliant streak of light we see in the sky, commonly known as a meteor.
How to recognize a meteorite
To identify a meteorite, look for features such as a smooth, dark fusion crust, a high metal content, and a lack of internal cavities or bubbles.
Meteorites are typically heavier than ordinary rocks, often magnetic due to their iron-nickel composition, and may display regmaglypts—distinctive thumbprint-like indentations on their surface.
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