* Meteoroids: These are small pieces of rock or metal that orbit the Sun.

* Meteors: This is what we see when a meteoroid enters the Earth's atmosphere and burns up. The bright streak of light is often called a "shooting star."

* Meteorites: This is what's left of a meteoroid after it survives its fiery journey through the atmosphere and hits the ground.

So, the term that specifically refers to the smaller pieces of celestial debris *before* they enter the atmosphere is meteoroids.