A Norwegian family was shocked to find that a piece of item from the vast expanse of Space had crashed through the roof of their allotment garden hut in the middle of Oslo.

The meteorite rock, which weighs 585 grams, is believed to have been detached by force from a meteorite observed over Norway on March 1.

The AFP spoke to Anne Margrethe Thomassen who owns the cottage that the meteorite rock had broken into.

Astrophysicist Knut Joergen Roed Oedegaard and his wife Anne Mette Sannes, a meteorite enthusiast, identified the object as a breccia, or a rock composed of broken fragments of minerals or rock, AFP reports.

"It is a sensation in more than one way. On one hand because it is rare that a piece of meteorite goes through a roof and on the other hand because it is a breccia, which is even harder to find," Sannes said.

Meteorites speed through space and generally break up as they enter Earth's atmosphere, but it is extremely rare for the debris to fall on inhabited areas, says Serge Koutchmy, a researcher at the Paris Astrophysical Institute.

"This family is very lucky," Dr. Koutchmy said of the Thomassens.

"First off because the piece of meteorite did not cause much damage, but also because it is worth a small fortune," he said.