Charcoal Stars

Charcoal-based stars are most frequently used for their "fire dust" effect, referring to the trail of golden orange charcoal embers they leave. The chrysanthemum firework effect is a good example of this, where each star creates a path of golden fire dust radiating from the central burst point and lingering in the sky for a moment. Metal additivies to charcoal stars are sometimes also used to create various glitter and firefly effects.

All of the non-metal fire dust compositions should be wet at some point to ensure that the potassium nitrate is dissolved and absorbed into the charcoal particles and each ingredient should be finely powdered. This helps to maintain a longer burning spark that hangs in the sky. The choice of charcoal can influence this spark effect with some types of wood or lampblack creating a more delicate, but longer hanging spark, while other types of wood create larger bright sparks that don't last as long.