A doorbell camera on a Canadian home captured rare video and sound of a meteorite striking Earth as it crashed into a couple’s walkway.
They checked their security camera and saw something slamming against their entranceway, producing a cloud of smoke and a crackle.
Meteorites are bits of space rock that hit Earth after surviving a trip through its scorching atmosphere.
While cameras have captured meteors streaking through the sky, it’s rare to capture the sound of a complete meteorite strike on video.
The space rock, officially registered Monday, was named Charlottetown after the city on Prince Edward Island in eastern Canada where it struck.
Rare footage and sound of a meteorite hitting Earth as it collided with a couple’s walkway were captured by a doorbell camera on a Canadian home.
According to the Meteoritical Society, which shared the video along with its report, Laura Kelly and her partner were shocked to find their walkway covered in dust and other odd debris when they got home from an evening stroll in July.
They noticed something smashing into their entrance, creating a crackle and a cloud of smoke, when they looked at their security camera.
The curator, Chris Herd, analyzed samples of the debris to verify its interstellar origins after the two reported their discovery to the University of Alberta’s Meteorite Reporting System.
After surviving a journey through Earth’s blazing atmosphere, meteorites—fragments of space rock—fall on the planet. NASA estimates that 48 tons (43,500 kilograms) of similar debris arrive on Earth each day, but it is far more likely to fall into an ocean than land on a person’s front porch.
A few times a year, meteor showers cause the space rocks to streak the night sky like shooting stars.
It’s thought to be the first footage. The sound of a full meteorite strike is rarely captured on video, although cameras have recorded meteors streaking across the sky.
Charlottetown, after the city on Prince Edward Island in eastern Canada where it struck, was the name given to the space rock when it was formally registered on Monday.
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