Shooting Stars

This is an episode of the podcast "Is This the Norm?" hosted by Heather, Laura, and Rebecca. In it, Rebecca leads an educational deep-dive into the history and science of meteorites, beginning by clarifying the distinctions between asteroids, meteors, meteoroids, and meteorites, and explaining how these space rocks have profoundly shaped Earth's history — from forming the Moon via a massive ancient impact, to delivering the phosphorus and organic compounds necessary for life, to wiping out the dinosaurs 66 million years ago with the Chicxulub impactor. The episode walks through several notable impact events including the Vredefort Dome in South Africa, the Barringer Crater in Arizona, the 1908 Tunguska airburst in Siberia, the 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor, and a largely unnoticed 2018 explosion over the Bering Sea, while the hosts engage in lively, humorous banter throughout — drawing comparisons to hairballs, glitter, and bodily functions — before wrapping up with a discussion of the statistical likelihood of future impacts and a reassurance that Earth's atmosphere protects us from most of the debris constantly flying through space. References 226 Reactions · 61 shares | on dec. 18, 2018, a large “fireball” — the term used for exceptionally bright meteors that are visible over a wide area — exploded about 16 miles (26 kilometers) above the bering sea. the explosion unleashed an estimated 173 kilotons of energy, or more than 10 times the energy of the atomic bomb blast over hiroshima during world war II. two NASA instruments aboard the terra satellite captured images of the remnants of the large meteor. the image sequence shows views from five of nine cameras on the multi-angle imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument taken a few minutes after the event. the shadow of the meteor’s trail through earth’s atmosphere, cast on the cloud tops and elongated by the low sun angle, is to the northwest. the orange-tinted cloud that the fireball left behind by super-heating the air it passed through can be seen below and to the right of the gif’s center. https://go.nasa.gov/2Ft7dV8 | nasa’s goddard space flight center. (2018). Facebookapp. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2185884338390388 Choi, C. Q. (2022, September). How many meteorites hit earth every year? Space. https://www.space.com/how-many-meteorites-hit-earth Definition of Asteroid. (n.d.-a). In www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved July 25, 2026, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/asteroid INSIDER. (2019, March 18). A giant meteor exploded over earth and nobody noticed. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/meteor-exploded-over-earth-nobody-noticed-2019-3 Meteor no one saw coming exploded over earth with force of 10 atomic bombs. (n.d.-b). In NBC News. Retrieved July 25, 2026, from https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/meteor-no-one-saw-coming-exploded-over-earth-force-10-ncna985391 Meteorite importance | center for Meteorite studies | ASU. (2013). In Asu.edu. Center for Meteorite Studies. https://meteorites.asu.edu/meteorites/importance-of-meteorites Mortillaro, N. (2019, March 18). Scientists surprised to discover meteor exploded over bering sea in December. CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/meteor-bering-sea-1.5061525 Sharmila Kuthunur. (2025). 7 Major asteroids strikes in Earth’s history | history. In HISTORY. https://www.history.com/articles/7-major-asteroids-strikes-in-earths-history