Doorbell captures cosmic event: Rare meteorite in Charlottetown
An unusual event occurred on Prince Edward Island in Canada. A home doorbell camera recorded both the image and sound of a meteorite falling. As reported by Science Alert, this might be the first such case in history.
In July 2024, a Ring camera installed in front of Joe Velaidum and Laura Kelly’s home in Charlottetown captured the moment when a meteorite shattered on the sidewalk in front of their entrance. Moreover, the recording clearly captures the sound of the cosmic rock hitting the ground. Geologist Chris Herd from the University of Alberta, who studied the fragments of this object, suggests it may be the first instance where the sound of a falling meteorite was documented.
The meteorite that smashed into ground
"As the first and only meteorite from the province of PEI, the Charlottetown Meteorite sure announced its arrival in a spectacular way. No other meteorite fall has been documented like this, complete with sound," said Herd, as quoted by Science Alert.
The homeowners were on a walk with their dogs when the meteorite fell. Upon their return, they discovered a small mess on the sidewalk, and neighbours mentioned hearing a loud noise. It wasn't until Velaidum and Kelly reviewed the camera footage that they realized a unique event had occurred right in front of their home.
"The shocking thing for me is that I was standing right there a couple of minutes right before this impact," Velaidum said in an interview with CBC News. "If I'd have seen it, I probably would've been standing right there, so it probably would've ripped me in half."
Science Alert reminds us that approximately 53.5 tonnes of cosmic material enter Earth's atmosphere daily, but most burn up before reaching the surface. Meteorite falls that survive entry through the atmosphere are rare, and most of them end up in oceans.
In the case of the Charlottetown meteorite, research showed it belonged to the ordinary chondrites class—the most commonly found meteorites, which constitute about 90% of all such objects discovered. However, chondrites are extremely valuable to science as they contain materials from billions of years ago, dating back to the formation of the solar system.
