Meteor shoots across Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick night sky

Skywatchers across EasternCanada and the U.S. spotted an unexpected treat last night, as a meteor streaked across the sky.

The phenomenon was captured by a camera atop Quebec'sMont-Mgantic provincial park, about 80 kilometres east of Sherbrooke, Que.,around 9:40 p.m. Wednesday.

SbastienGigure, scientific co-ordinator at theMont-MganticAstrolab, confirmed Thursday morning that the fireball was indeed a meteor.

A meteor, also called a shooting star,is the light emitted from a meteoroid or an asteroid as it enters the atmosphere.

Meteors like ones seenduring Perseid meteor showersare caused by particles that are the same size as a grain of sand or rice, Gigure explained.The bigger the particle, the bigger the meteor.

Last night's meteor was probably caused by something the size of a big rock,Giguresaid.

"Hundreds of tonnes of meteorites fall through the sky every day," he said on Radio-Canada'sC'est pas trop tt. "But yesterday, it was nice out and [the meteor]was centred on southern Quebec. That happens once every one or two years, so it's not totally rare, but it doesn't happen every day."

Vicky Boldo, a resident ofSainte-Catherine-de-HatleyQue., said she saw the "spectacular sight"whilesitting in her hot tub last night.

"It passed directly over us and lit the yard up like a football field it seemed to be just up over our heads beyond the trees,"she said in anemail.

Seen far and wide

The meteorwas mainly spotted by people in southernQuebec, butOntario, New York, Vermont, New Brunswick, Massachusetts, and Maine residents also saw it.

The American Meteor Society has received more than 120 reports about the shooting star.

The reason it was seen by so many people is because of the height where it occurred,Gigure said. The higher the point where stone enters the atmosphere, the more people who see it.

And the people who see them play an important role. Reports of what they saw help scientists determine the meteor'spath.Gigure said itseems it travelled from east to west.

Giguresaid he believes the stone disintegrated before it hit the ground.Fragments of meteoroids or asteroids that hit the ground are called meteorites.

Shooting starsare a blink-and-you-miss-it kind of event.If it lasts a second, that's long,Gigure explained.

"It goes so fast, you practically don'thave time to make a wish," he said.

Did you take a photo or videoof the meteor? Send it to webquebec@cbc.ca.