Amateur astronomer discovers 390-million-year-old meteorite impact crater in Quebec
An amateur astronomer discovered a 390-million-year-old meteorite impact crater in Quebec using Google Earth. Scientists have since verified the site, named Uhackatik, through field research and laboratory testing.
Why it matters
This discovery marks a rare instance of public-sourced data leading to a significant scientific finding, demonstrating the utility of accessible satellite imagery.
A geological feature discovered by an amateur astronomer on Google Earth in northeastern Canada appears to be a 390-million-year-old meteorite impact crater, researchers said.
Joël Lapointe was planning a camping trip to Quebec’s Côte-Nord region in 2024 when he came across what seemed to be an impact crater on a Google Earth map, according to the Planetary Society, a space science nonprofit.
Lapointe reported the sighting to scientists at Aix-Marseille University in France, which informed a team that launched a scientific expedition to the scene to investigate the feature’s status as an impact crater in October 2025, according to Gordon Osinski, a professor of Earth Sciences at Western University in Canada and director of the university’s Impact Earth database, which maps impact craters and deposits across the globe.
One of four researchers on the expedition, Osinski said the finding was "serendipitous."
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