Amateur Astronomer Uncovers 390-Million-Year-Old Impact Crater in Quebec

While planning a 2024 camping trip, amateur astronomer Joël Lapointe noticed a circular depression spanning roughly 25 km (15.5 mi) in Quebec’s Côte-Nord region on Google Maps. Suspecting an impact origin, he reported the site to Impact Earth, a crowdsourced crater database run by planetary geologist Gordon Osinski of Western University. In October 2025 Osinski co-led a field expedition that identified shatter cones, impact melt rock, and other shock-metamorphic features, confirming the structure as a meteorite impact crater dated to about 390 million years ago. The crater has been named Uhackatik following approval from the Innu Council of Ekuanitshit, whose traditional lands encompass the site.

Space.com

Impact Earth routinely receives public submissions, most of which prove to be false alarms. Osinski’s team, however, found this case to be a “rare, accurate” identification, adding one of the largest newly confirmed craters in recent memory. Canada already hosts the world’s highest number of confirmed impact sites, a record reflecting the country’s ancient, stable bedrock rather than a higher impact rate.

Smithsonian Magazine

• 2024 – Lapointe spots the circular feature while mapping a hiking route.

Smithsonian Magazine

• 2025 (October) – Osinski and a four-person research team conduct a five-day field survey, collecting samples and photographs.

Pit turns out to be 390-million-year-old meteor crater

• August 2025 – The team will present their findings at the 88th Annual Meteoritical Society Meeting in Germany.

Space.com

• Diameter: ~25 km (15.5 mi).

Pit turns out to be 390-million-year-old meteor crater

• Age: ~390 million years (Ordovician period).

Pit turns out to be 390-million-year-old meteor crater

• Global context: Approximately 200 impact craters are known worldwide; Osinski notes that only one or two are discovered each year.

Smithsonian Magazine

• Evidence collected: shatter cones, extensive impact melt rock, and shock-metamorphic deformation.

Pit turns out to be 390-million-year-old meteor crater

He highlighted the significance of finding well-preserved impact melt rock, which often erodes quickly, calling the discovery “a big surprise.” Lapointe expressed enthusiasm for citizen-science contributions, urging others not to dismiss intuitive observations even outside their expertise. The Innu Council’s involvement ensured the crater’s name, Uhackatik, reflects local cultural heritage.

Pit turns out to be 390-million-year-old meteor crater

Uhackatik provides a fresh, well-preserved laboratory for studying high-energy impacts, offering comparative data for lunar and Martian cratering processes. Its size and preservation make it a valuable analogue for missions such as NASA’s Artemis program, which uses Earth craters like Kamestastin in Labrador to train astronauts for lunar surface work. The find also underscores the potential of publicly accessible satellite imagery to reveal previously unknown geological features.

Space.comSmithsonian Magazine

• “It was quite an exciting discovery,” — Gordon Osinski, a planetary geologist at Canada’s Western University

Pit turns out to be 390-million-year-old meteor crater

• “It was one of the hardest field expeditions I've ever done,” — Gordon Osinski, a planetary geologist at Canada’s Western University

Pit turns out to be 390-million-year-old meteor crater