How to create a moving Star higlight

[Quest]

I am trying to create a little twinkling, "bright" star effect that will run along the egde of an object. I have the star made but its "novish". I have the motion done, it works ok, but the finished look does not impress me. I have seen this technique used and witnessed a "tail" that follows behind the star highlighting the path and then fading as the star moves along.