Pyrotechnic stars are pellets of pyrotechnic composition which may contain metal powders, salts or other compounds that, when ignited, burn a certain color or make a certain spark effect. They are a part of all

projectile A projectile is an object that is propelled by the application of an external force and then moves freely under the influence of gravity and air resistance. Although any objects in motion through space are projectiles, they are commonly found in ...

-type

fireworks Fireworks are a class of Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a l ...

. The most common is the aerial shell. When watching this firework, it will launch into the sky, burning a

lifting charge Lift Powder, or Lift Charge is a slang term for Gunpowder. The term "Lift Powder" is mostly used in the Fireworks Fireworks are a class of low explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most common ...

. Once the shell has attained proper altitude, due to other mechanisms within the firework, it will ignite the stars.

Procedure

Stars are either rolled, pumped or cut. *Rolled stars are small cores of a hard material (often lead shot or an organic material such as mustard seeds or even cut stars) which are coated in a rotating mixer similar to a

concrete mixer A concrete mixer (often colloquially called a cement mixer) is a device that homogeneously combines cement, aggregate such as sand or gravel, and water to form concrete. A typical concrete mixer uses a revolving drum to mix the components. F ...

. First some water is sprayed on cores. Then an amount of a

pyrotechnic composition A pyrotechnic composition is a substance or mixture of substances designed to produce an effect by heat, light, sound, gas/smoke or a combination of these, as a result of non-detonative self-sustaining exothermic reaction, exothermic chemical reac ...

is dropped into the mixer. These two steps are repeated, and the stars will grow bigger and bigger into a

spherical A sphere () is a geometrical object that is a three-dimensional analogue to a two-dimensional circle. A sphere is the set of points that are all at the same distance from a given point in three-dimensional space.. That given point is the ce ...

shape. *Pumped stars are stars that have been pumped using a star pump. A dampened composition is put in the star pump and is pressed against a flat surface and ejected again, creating cylinder shaped stars. *Cut stars is a dampened composition spread out to an even layer on a flat surface. The stars are then cut into cubes. The stars are allowed to dry for some days before being put into the fireworks piece. Priming the stars is often necessary because they may be hard to ignite. Priming consists of coating the surface of the star with a more easily ignited substance, such as black powder.

Putting into use

Stars can be used in aerial shells, Roman candles, star mines, and certain bottle rockets. When used in aerial shells, the stars may sometimes be required to be "primed" with an ignition coating, consisting of a pyrotechnic mixture with an ignition temperature lower than that of the star. This is usually done if the star composition does not ignite easily. Pyrotechnics Pyrotechnic compositions {{Pyrotechnics-stub