Here's why:

* Shooting star: This is the term we use for the streak of light we see in the sky when a meteoroid burns up in the Earth's atmosphere.

* Meteoroid: A small piece of rock or dust in space.

* Meteor: The bright streak of light we see when a meteoroid enters the Earth's atmosphere and burns up.

* Meteorite: If a meteoroid survives its fiery descent through the atmosphere and lands on Earth, it's called a meteorite.

So, while we call the phenomenon we see a shooting star, the actual object in space is a meteoroid, and the light we see is a meteor.