The Year of the Rat has officially begun and Google is celebrating the start of the lunar new year with an adorable doodle of a cartoon rodent. A NASA astronaut even snapped a stunning photo of Beijing from space.
Today (Jan. 25) marks the start of a new lunar year, which relies on the phases of the moon on its monthly trip around the Earth and not the Gregorian calendar that starts on Jan. 1. The new moon of January 2020 occurred on Friday (Jan. 24).
"Today’s animated Doodle commemorates one of the most significant cultural holidays for Asian communities, the observance of the Lunar New Year," Google Doodle designers said in a statement. "It depicts the story of the grand race that earned the rat its premier spot in the calendar."
More: Moon myths and facts for the lunar new year
As if to celebrate the lunar new year in space, NASA astronaut Jessica Meir snapped a picture of China's capital city Beijing as it looked at night from the International Space Station on Friday (Jan. 24).
"If a spider had a penchant for right angles, its web might look like this," Meir wrote on Twitter while sharing the photo. "So much going on in this glowing view of the capital city of China! Goodnight Beijing!"
There are 12 animals on the lunar new year zodiac: a rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. This space reporter was born in 1977, the Year of the Snake, while my daughter (born in 2008) arrived in the Year of the Rat.
"According to ancient legend, an emperor challenged different animals to race through the land to determine their order in the zodiac," Google Doodle makers said. "Due to his size, the rat knew it could not cross a river on his own, so he hitched a ride on the ox's back. But, just before reaching the opposite shore over a river, the rat then cleverly leapt off — winning first place in the race and thus the zodiac calendar!"
That's a smart rat.
Related: January new moon 2020: See Venus, Jupiter and more
The lunar new year is a major holiday for many cultures and nations, notably China and other Asian nations.
- 2020 moon phases calendar
- 10 surprising lunar facts
- The brightest visible planets in January's night sky
Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him @tariqjmalik. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Instagram.
Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.
