California (Web Desk): An amateur astronomer has identified an approximately 25-kilometer-wide ancient crater in Canada’s Quebec province with the help of satellite images. Experts say it was formed as a result of a cosmic impact.
The discovery was made in 2024 when amateur astronomer Joel Lapointe was looking for a camping site in the remote Côte-Nord region of Quebec. While viewing online satellite images, he noticed a large, roughly circular structure near Lake Marcel.
Lapointe suspected that the feature could have resulted from a meteorite or another space object striking the Earth and contacted experts in Europe and North America regarding the finding.
French researchers later also expressed interest in the area. During a scientific conference in 2024, it was considered a possible 11th known impact structure discovered in Quebec.
The case reached Gordon Osinski, a planetary geologist affiliated with Western University, who also oversees global data on craters formed by cosmic impacts. Initially, he was not particularly optimistic about the possibility, but considering the significance of the discovery, he organized a research expedition.
In October 2025, a team of experts visited the remote site to determine whether the circular structure visible in satellite images was actually the result of an ancient cosmic impact or a natural geological formation.
Later, distinctive rock formations known as shatter cones found at the site provided important evidence that the approximately 25-kilometer-wide crater was formed around 390 million years ago when a large space object struck the Earth.
According to experts, approximately 200 impact craters on Earth have so far been formally identified. However, hundreds more such craters may exist around the world that have yet to be detected.