Google has shared a charming doodle marking the Lunar New Year, which arrived with the new moon on Tuesday (Feb. 1).
This new year is the Year of the Tiger in the Chinese calendar system, so the doodle appropriately stars an animated tiger. Surrounding the tiger are a handful of symbols associated with the festivities, like the peach blossoms and red lanterns people use to decorate for the season.
Also featured in the doodle are a handful of traditional Lunar New Year foods, like fish, mandarin oranges and dumplings.
Related: Chinese astronauts celebrate lunar new year on Tiangong space station, a first
In addition to the doodle itself, searching for Lunar New Year or clicking on the doodle from the landing page will trigger a few seconds of fireworks bursting over your search page, including a faint tiger face.
Technically, the new moon occurred at 12:46 a.m. EST (0546 GMT) this morning. Although the doodle highlights Chinese celebrations of the Lunar New Year, Hebrew and Islamic calendars also reckon this new moon as marking the changing of the year.
Without the moon’s glare, it’s a prime time to go skywatching. In particular, look for Venus and Mars just before dawn; in addition, Jupiter will be very close to, or in conjunction with, the sliver of moon visible on Wednesday (Feb. 2).
Email Meghan Bartels at mbartels@space.com or follow her on Twitter @meghanbartels. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
