Astronomers call "shooting stars" meteors. They are small bits of "dust" from space that burn up in the atmosphere. A meteorite is a piece of rock or other material from space that actually lands on Earth.

Meteor - When a meteoroid has entered the earth's atmosphere ; You can see a trail of light from it. -> The meteor showers were amazing last night. We seen 50 an hour! Meteorite - A piece of debris such as from asteroids or comets coming in from outer space that survives impact with the Earth's surface. -> I found a meteorite today while hiking in the woods. I wonder how old it is? Meteoroid - "A solid body, moving in space, that is smaller than an asteroid and at least as large as a speck of dust." ->Nasa predicted the meteoroid to hit another one.