In late 2023, an amateur astronomer named Joël Lapointe was mapping out forest roads for a summer road trip in Quebec when he stumbled upon something extraordinary on Google Maps. A circular depression, about 100 kilometers north of the town of Magpie, caught his eye. For someone with a passion for space and meteorites, this wasn't just a random feature; it was a potential discovery. Lapointe's initial reaction was one of doubt, wondering if scientists would already be aware of it. But as he delved deeper, the circular shape persisted, and he couldn't find any matching listings in known crater databases. This led him to reach out to experts, and eventually, a French research center took an interest in the strange pit.
The discovery was met with skepticism from Gordon Osinski, a professor of earth sciences at Western University in London, Ontario. Osinski, who studies impact craters, was no stranger to enthusiastic emails about "craters" that turned out to be quarries, lakes, or natural depressions. However, this case stood out. The pit's circular topography and preliminary analysis of rock samples suggested something unusual. Curiosity got the better of Osinski, and he co-led an expedition to the site in 2025, traveling by float plane to reach the remote location.
The team found rugged, challenging terrain, but they were determined. To confirm that the pit was a meteorite impact crater, they needed specific evidence. They focused on the rock, finding key indicators such as shatter cones and impact melt rock, which are distinctive features that form under the immense pressure of a meteorite strike. These features strongly pointed to a violent collision from space, and the crater was dated to be about 390 million years old.
Impact craters are rare, and confirmed new ones are big news in earth science. In Canada, it had been a long quiet spell since the last crater was discovered in 2010. The crater, named Uhackatik in collaboration with the local Indigenous community, acknowledges both its scientific importance and its place on traditional lands. Lapointe's experience highlights how modern tools like satellite maps can put deep time within reach of everyday people, and it inspires us to look closer at the landscapes we see, wondering what hidden stories might be sitting there in plain sight.
