Shooting Star

Shooting Star is part of Distractions and Diversions, which was introduced during the 2 September 2008 gaming update. It is Pay-to-play only. A fast guide for solo star hunters can be found here.

Introduction
Shooting Stars fall from the sky every two hours or so. They generally fall across all members worlds within fifteen minutes of each other. If players reach the core of the star before the next star falls on that world, a Star sprite appears and gives rewards. To mine a Shooting Star you need to know what size it is. The required mining level is ten times that size. For example you need a mining level of 80 to mine a size 8 star.

Requirements

 * Any pickaxe or an inferno adze.
 * The required Mining level is 10 times the star size, for example; you need to be level 40 to mine a size 4 star. This does not count for the first-miner bonus.
 * A charged Amulet of glory will increase the chance of gems obtained as it does at other mineral deposits.

Seconds before the star lands, a shadow is cast which players can examine to read: The shadow of a shooting star. There is also a sound while the shadow is visible and when the star lands. If the shooting star lands on top of the player, you will walk out of the star, then begin mining.

Locating

 * Use a telescope in a study room in a player-owned house to find the approximate area and time of the next landing. Better telescopes provide a more accurate time:
 * Wooden telescope - 24-minute window
 * Teak telescope - 9-minute window
 * Mahogany telescope - 2-minute window
 * Note: If the telescope is blocked by another room in the house, it will not work.


 * Shooting stars land roughly once every two hours.
 * Stars may land in a different location in each world.

Mining

 * The first person to attempt to mine the star (even if they only have mining level 1) will be rewarded with Mining experience in the amount of 75 times your mining level. This is called a tag. You do not need a pickaxe to get the tag, though you cannot mine it further without a pickaxe.Their name will also be added to the Shooting Star Noticeboard in the house north of the Observatory.
 * Shooting stars come in sizes from 1 to 9. Players can find out how large the star is by examining it, and they can prospect it to check on the progress to the next level. (See below for a list of Mining level requirement for each star size.)
 * Each layer of the star is mined from 0% to 100%, at which point the outermost layer sloughs off and the star's size is reduced by one. The amount left to mine can be determined by prospecting while mining. More people mining the star will get through these layers faster, while with just two or three people it can take up to ten minutes per level. If the sprite is not released by time the next star falls, the rock vanishes without the bonus.
 * Players can only carry a maximum of 200 stardust at a time. Size9star.png Stardust can be banked, but the 200 maximum counts stardust in your bank as well. You can continue to mine to gain xp even if your stardust is maxed out.

Star sizes
The following table lists the star sizes, with the Mining level required to mine it. The Mining experience is gained per stardust.

The amount of stardust per star size is indicated in the table below. The time it takes to lower a star size depends upon the number of miners mining it and their respective mining levels; the more miners, the faster the star gets to the star sprite level. For the same number of miners, a higher star size level goes down to the next level faster than a lower star size level because there are fewer stardusts at higher star size levels than at lower star size levels.


 * {|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

!Star size !Mining level !XP/stardust !XP/stardust with Sacred clay pickaxe !Number of stardust/star size !Total XP per size !Cumulative XP
 * 9
 * 90
 * 210
 * 420
 * 15
 * 3150
 * 82885
 * 8
 * 80
 * 145
 * 290
 * 40
 * 5800
 * 79735
 * 7
 * 70
 * 114
 * 228
 * 40
 * 4560
 * 73935
 * 6
 * 60
 * 71
 * 142
 * 80
 * 5680
 * 69375
 * 5
 * 50
 * 47
 * 94
 * 175
 * 8225
 * 63695
 * 4
 * 40
 * 32
 * 64
 * 250
 * 8000
 * 55470
 * 3
 * 30
 * 29
 * 58
 * 430
 * 12470
 * 47470
 * 2
 * 20
 * 25
 * 50
 * 700
 * 17500
 * 35000
 * 1
 * 10
 * 14
 * 28
 * 1250
 * 17500
 * 17500
 * }
 * 1
 * 10
 * 14
 * 28
 * 1250
 * 17500
 * 17500
 * }
 * }


 * Drinking a Dwarven Stout will briefly raise mining one level. This can be handy at level 89 to reach level 90 early, or at any level. A mature dwarven stout will raise your mining level by two levels. A Void Ravager can be summoned with a Summoning level of 34 and has the same effect as the Stout with the boost lasting slightly longer.



Rewards

 * For the first person who attempts to mine the star, 75 experience per Mining level and being named the discoverer of the star.
 * If they reach the star core before the next star has fallen, players are rewarded according to how much dust they had with them, up to:
 * 152 Cosmic runes
 * 52 Astral runes
 * 20 Gold ores (noted)
 * 50,002 Coins
 * The ability to randomly receive additional ore when mining for up to 15 minutes. See notes below.

Different kingdom glitch
At very infrequent intervals the star will fall in a different kingdom than the one named. This may happen on one world, or across many. Most instances of this glitch it has affected only a single fall, although it has lasted up to half a day.

Scoreboard
In the Observatory professor's house is a noticeboard which lists the last five stars to be discovered on that world, how long ago they were, and who discovered them.