The scattering of video cameras all over the world, as people mount them on dashboards and doorbells, is allowing us to see rare events. When it comes to meteorite collecting, the amazing security cameras and other nighttime images have made it significantly easier for meteorite scientists to figure out where to find the latest rock to fall out of the sky.
Now, thanks to a doorbell cam, they have also allowed us to catch one particularly close to a home meteor strike.
When a Prince Edward Island homeowner returned from walking their dog, they found their front walk covered in weird debris. After looking at their doorbell camera and talking to their neighbor, they began to wonder if they’d caught a meteor striking their walkway. As fate would have it, Chris Herd, curator of the University of Alberta’s meteorite collection, was headed to PEI on vacation and was sufficiently intrigued by the possibility it was a space rock that he offered to come out and give it a look. He and the homeowner Joe Velaidum both collected debris, and chemical analysis showed that the statistically improbable had totally happened – a meteor struck Velaidum’s walkway and was caught – sound and all – on camera. As far as they’ve so far been able to determin, this was the first time the sound of a meteor impact has been captured.
Also, it turns out that when a piece of everyday asteroid – a carbonaceous chondrite – strikes a brick walkway at 200 km/hr or so, the brick wins. I’m in awe of how the walk way is unaffected while the space rock is shattered to smitherings.
I, for one, welcome meteor observations by our security overlords.