Star Fragments on the ground in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

How to Get Star Fragments in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

When you wish upon a star, you won't walk away empty-handed.

Written by:
Avatar photo
Carley is a professional JP-EN translator and writer currently based in Des Moines, Iowa. She has written hundreds of articles for popular sites such as Siliconera, Gameranx, and Otaquest, and has been playing games nonstop since 1996.

Reviewed by:
Avatar photo
Marshall is a seasoned writer and gaming enthusiast based in Tokyo. He's a prolific wordsmith with hundreds of articles featured on top-tier sites like Business Insider, How-To Geek, PCWorld, and Zapier. His writing has reached a massive audience with over 70 million readers!

Key Takeaway

To get star fragments, you’ll need to wish upon shooting stars during meteor showers. These can occur year-round after 7 PM if the sky is clear. After wishing on a star, a star fragment will wash up on your beach the next day. You can get up to 20 fragments per meteor shower by wishing on multiple stars.

Star fragments are highly sought-after crafting items in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Used to create many popular furnishings, snagging some of these celestial goodies isn’t as easy as hitting rocks or digging in the dirt. You’ll need a little patience and some good weather to hit the payload.

Table Of Contents

    Why Collect Star Fragments?

    A character sitting next to tons of DIY furnishings made with star fragments in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

    Star fragments are used in a number of special DIY recipes. Each time shooting stars appear on your island, Blathers’s adorable sister Celeste has a chance of appearing on your island. Chat with her to get a DIY recipe that uses star fragments.

    If you’re lacking some of these recipes, placing star fragments around your island on their own is a great way to decorate!

    A character with a Star Wand in Animal Crossing: New Horizons next to Étoile.

    While learning how to craft star-centric furnishings is the goal for most players, one of the most sought-after recipes is more practical. During your time spent in the world of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, you may come across a recipe for a wand. Wands allow you to save up to eight outfits and change into them whenever you want, even if you’re not near your dresser. There are many different styles of wands, but all of them do the same thing and require star fragments to craft.

    How to Get Star Fragments

    To make star fragments appear, you’ll need to wish on shooting stars. These won’t appear every night, so you’ll need to be vigilant.

    After 7 PM during any season, check the sky. If the weather is clear, you’ll see sporadic shooting stars. If your volume is turned up, you can also hear a sparkle sound effect when they appear. During Isabelle’s morning announcements, she might announce that a meteor shower is coming. However, even if she doesn’t, it’s possible that one will occur!

    Isabelle announcing a meteor shower in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

    To wish on shooting stars, make sure that you have nothing in your hands. Push up on the right joystick to look at the sky. Once you see a shooting star, quickly press the A button. This will cause a star fragment to appear along the beach the following day.

    If you wish on multiple stars, you’ll get multiple star fragments, but they might not all appear at once. Be sure to run along your beaches a few times during the following day to find them all.

    Player wishing on a star in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

    If you’re wishing on shooting stars by yourself, you can get up to 20 star fragments. You’ll receive a bonus star fragment for every five wishes made by a friend visiting your island, up to a limit of 20. This means that you can net a total of 40 star fragments the day after a meteor shower.

    Note: Even if you wish upon shooting stars on a friend’s island, you’ll get your own star fragments the following day.

    All About Star Fragment Varieties

    All special zodiac DIY furnishings in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

    There is a specific type of star fragment for every Zodiac sign, and each has a different color. Wishing on shooting stars during the time periods seen below will potentially net you the associated zodiac fragments.

    NameColorAvailableDIY Recipe
    Aries Star FragmentGrayMarch 21 - April 19Aries Rocking Chair
    Taurus Star FragmentDark GreenApril 20 - May 20Taurus Bathtub
    Gemini Star FragmentDark BlueMay 21 - June 20Gemini Closet
    Cancer Star FragmentPinkJune 21 - July 22Cancer Table
    Leo Star FragmentLight GreenJuly 23 - August 22Leo Sculpture
    Virgo Star FragmentCold PurpleAugust 23 - September 22Virgo Harp
    Libra Star FragmentTealSeptember 23 - October 22Libra Scale
    Scorpio Star FragmentOrangeOctober 23 - November 21Scorpio Lamp
    Sagittarius Star FragmentLight BlueNovember 22 - December 21Sagittarius Arrow
    Capricorn Star FragmentRedDecember 22 - January 19Capricorn Ornament
    Aquarius Star FragmentWarm PurpleJanuary 20 - February 18Aquarius Urn
    Pisces Star FragmentWhite-BlueFebruary 19 - March 20Pisces Lamp

    Each time you wish upon a shooting star, you have an 80 percent chance to spawn a regular yellow star fragment. Your chance of getting a large star fragment is only five percent, while zodiac star fragments spawn 15 percent of the time.