Short Wave

Shooting stars are just pea-sized rocks... and other space wonders

August 5, 2026·11 min·4-min readnarrativescience
Podzilla Summary (4 min)
TLDR
A shooting star isn’t a star at all, but a tiny piece of space rock burning up in Earth’s atmosphere—often no bigger than a pea—traveling since the solar system’s birth. This episode of Shortwave unpacks the science behind these celestial streaks with NASA planetary scientist Melissa Ri

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Guest

M

Melissa Rice

narrative on Short Wave

Mentions

Books, people, and resources mentioned in this episode.

People

Melissa RiceRegina G. BarberEmily Kwong

Books

The Simpsons

Companies

NASA

Topics

AstronomyClimate ChangeLong Form JournalismScientific MethodSpace Exploration

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