This is a sample of the asteroid Ryugu. The Japanese mission Hayabusa2 brought it back to Earth in 2020. A new study found all 5 fundamental units of life’s genetic code in this asteroid sample. Image via JAXA.
Scientists analyzing samples from asteroid Ryugu have detected all five of the building blocks that make up DNA and RNA.
The discovery shows that key ingredients for life can form naturally in space.
These compounds may have been delivered to early Earth by meteorites. Did life on Earth get a kickstart from an asteroid?
Life’s genetic code discovered in an asteroid sample
A new study reveals all five fundamental nucleobases – the molecular letters of life – have been detected in samples from the asteroid Ryugu.
Asteroid particles offer a glimpse into the chemical ingredients that may have helped kindle life on Earth. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) Hayabusa2 mission returned the Ryugu samples from space in 2020.
In 2023, an international team reported they had found one of the nucleobases in these samples: uracil. On March 16, 2026, in a study published in Nature Astronomy, a team of Japanese scientists has confirmed all five nucleobases are present in this pristine asteroid material.
This means these ingredients for life may have been widespread throughout the solar system in its early years.
Why look for nucleobases?
Nucleobases are nitrogen-containing organic molecules. They form the “letters” of genetic information in DNA and RNA. The five main nucleobases are adenine and guanine (known as purines), as well as cytosine, thymine and uracil (known as pyrimidines).
These molecules combine with sugars and phosphates to yield nucleotides: the building blocks of genetic material. Without nucleobases, the genetic code that allows organisms to grow, reproduce and evolve would not exist.
By studying purines and pyrimidines in Ryugu samples, scientists can reconstruct the chemical history of primitive asteroids. In turn, this gives us a better understanding of how the building blocks of life may have been formed and existed across the solar system.
Hayabusa2 delivered a total of 5.4 grams of pristine asteroid material. Researchers have to use ultra-clean lab conditions to avoid contaminating it. They extracted organic molecules using water and hydrochloric acid. Then they purified them for further detection.
They found all five nucleobases in the two Ryugu samples they analyzed, in roughly similar amounts.
Microscope images of Ryugu samples collected from the first and second touchdown sites of the Hayabusa2 mission. Image via JAXA/ JAMSTEC.
Key components of genetic material … in space
The new results align with previous findings on space rocks. The Murchison meteorite that fell in Australia in 1969 and the Orgueil meteorite in France in 1864 have previously yielded a rich variety of organic molecules, including nucleobases.
Of course, meteorites that land on Earth can be contaminated by their journey and landing. But pristine samples from NASA’s mission to asteroid Bennu also yielded all five nucleobases in 2025.
Asteroids such as Ryugu, Bennu, and the parent body of the Orgueil meteorite are remnants of the early Solar System. They can preserve materials largely unchanged for about 4.5 billion years.
Interestingly, these asteroids show chemical differences. Murchison is enriched in purines, while Bennu and Orgueil contain more pyrimidines. It is thought ammonia may influence this balance. Ammonia is a key molecule that can shape which nucleobases can form.
By peering into Ryugu’s relatively pristine samples and comparing them with meteorites like Murchison and Orgueil, researchers are tracing the cosmic journey of life’s probable molecular ingredients.
Their results suggest key components of genetic material may have formed in space and later delivered to the early Earth. In other words, the story of life on our planet may be deeply connected to the chemistry of such ancient asteroids.
A colored view of 162173 Ryugu taken by JAXA’s space probe Hayabusa2 in 2018. Image via JAXA/ Hayabusa2.
A path for the ingredients of life
Together, these discoveries show that carbon-rich asteroids throughout the solar system contain diverse prebiotic chemistry. However, the precise mixture of molecules – such as the balance between purines and pyrimidines – varies depending on the asteroid’s chemical environment and history.
Because the Ryugu samples were collected directly in space and protected from Earth’s contamination, they provide one of the clearest views of ancient solar system chemistry.
The discovery of all five nucleobases on Ryugu suggests the molecular ingredients of life may have been already forming in space billions of years ago. Asteroids may have helped deliver those ingredients to the early Earth … making the origin of life part of a much larger cosmic chemical story.
Bottom line: Scientists found all 5 fundamental units of life’s genetic code in asteroid Ryugu. It suggests life’s building blocks can form in space and could have been delivered to early Earth.
This is a sample of the asteroid Ryugu. The Japanese mission Hayabusa2 brought it back to Earth in 2020. A new study found all 5 fundamental units of life’s genetic code in this asteroid sample. Image via JAXA.
Scientists analyzing samples from asteroid Ryugu have detected all five of the building blocks that make up DNA and RNA.
The discovery shows that key ingredients for life can form naturally in space.
These compounds may have been delivered to early Earth by meteorites. Did life on Earth get a kickstart from an asteroid?
Life’s genetic code discovered in an asteroid sample
A new study reveals all five fundamental nucleobases – the molecular letters of life – have been detected in samples from the asteroid Ryugu.
Asteroid particles offer a glimpse into the chemical ingredients that may have helped kindle life on Earth. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s (JAXA) Hayabusa2 mission returned the Ryugu samples from space in 2020.
In 2023, an international team reported they had found one of the nucleobases in these samples: uracil. On March 16, 2026, in a study published in Nature Astronomy, a team of Japanese scientists has confirmed all five nucleobases are present in this pristine asteroid material.
This means these ingredients for life may have been widespread throughout the solar system in its early years.
Why look for nucleobases?
Nucleobases are nitrogen-containing organic molecules. They form the “letters” of genetic information in DNA and RNA. The five main nucleobases are adenine and guanine (known as purines), as well as cytosine, thymine and uracil (known as pyrimidines).
These molecules combine with sugars and phosphates to yield nucleotides: the building blocks of genetic material. Without nucleobases, the genetic code that allows organisms to grow, reproduce and evolve would not exist.
By studying purines and pyrimidines in Ryugu samples, scientists can reconstruct the chemical history of primitive asteroids. In turn, this gives us a better understanding of how the building blocks of life may have been formed and existed across the solar system.
Hayabusa2 delivered a total of 5.4 grams of pristine asteroid material. Researchers have to use ultra-clean lab conditions to avoid contaminating it. They extracted organic molecules using water and hydrochloric acid. Then they purified them for further detection.
They found all five nucleobases in the two Ryugu samples they analyzed, in roughly similar amounts.
Microscope images of Ryugu samples collected from the first and second touchdown sites of the Hayabusa2 mission. Image via JAXA/ JAMSTEC.
Key components of genetic material … in space
The new results align with previous findings on space rocks. The Murchison meteorite that fell in Australia in 1969 and the Orgueil meteorite in France in 1864 have previously yielded a rich variety of organic molecules, including nucleobases.
Of course, meteorites that land on Earth can be contaminated by their journey and landing. But pristine samples from NASA’s mission to asteroid Bennu also yielded all five nucleobases in 2025.
Asteroids such as Ryugu, Bennu, and the parent body of the Orgueil meteorite are remnants of the early Solar System. They can preserve materials largely unchanged for about 4.5 billion years.
Interestingly, these asteroids show chemical differences. Murchison is enriched in purines, while Bennu and Orgueil contain more pyrimidines. It is thought ammonia may influence this balance. Ammonia is a key molecule that can shape which nucleobases can form.
By peering into Ryugu’s relatively pristine samples and comparing them with meteorites like Murchison and Orgueil, researchers are tracing the cosmic journey of life’s probable molecular ingredients.
Their results suggest key components of genetic material may have formed in space and later delivered to the early Earth. In other words, the story of life on our planet may be deeply connected to the chemistry of such ancient asteroids.
A colored view of 162173 Ryugu taken by JAXA’s space probe Hayabusa2 in 2018. Image via JAXA/ Hayabusa2.
A path for the ingredients of life
Together, these discoveries show that carbon-rich asteroids throughout the solar system contain diverse prebiotic chemistry. However, the precise mixture of molecules – such as the balance between purines and pyrimidines – varies depending on the asteroid’s chemical environment and history.
Because the Ryugu samples were collected directly in space and protected from Earth’s contamination, they provide one of the clearest views of ancient solar system chemistry.
The discovery of all five nucleobases on Ryugu suggests the molecular ingredients of life may have been already forming in space billions of years ago. Asteroids may have helped deliver those ingredients to the early Earth … making the origin of life part of a much larger cosmic chemical story.
Bottom line: Scientists found all 5 fundamental units of life’s genetic code in asteroid Ryugu. It suggests life’s building blocks can form in space and could have been delivered to early Earth.
The former constellation of Argo Navis the Ship is now the modern constellations of Puppis the Stern, Vela the Sails and Carina the Keel. You can find these constellations south of Sirius. These constellations are easiest to see from the Southern Hemisphere.
Vela the Sails, a constellation in the Southern Hemisphere, is part of a large ship made up of several constellations. The ship was once a constellation itself, known as Argo Navis. Because of its large size, it has since been broken down into four different, smaller constellations. They include Vela the Sails, Carina the Keel, Puppis the Stern and Pyxis the Compass.
How to locate Vela the Sails
Vela lies north of Carina. It’s halfway between Carina’s incredibly bright star (and the second brightest in the sky) Canopus and the distinctive shape of the Southern Cross, or Crux. Then, it’s just a bit north from a line drawn between these two points. March is the best month to try to spot Vela.
The stars of Vela
The brightest star in Vela is Gamma Velorum, or Regor. It shines at magnitude 1.8 and lies 1,095 light-years from Earth. A little over nine degrees away and similar in brightness is Delta Velorum. At magnitude 1.9, it is only 80 light-years away.
Vela has three other moderately bright stars. The first is about 5 1/2 degrees from the last star, Delta Velorum. This star is Kappa Velorum, which has a magnitude of 2.4 and a distance of 572 light-years. Lambda Velorum, also known as Suhail, shines at magnitude 2.2 from a distance of 545 light-years. Finally is Mu Velorum, which lies on the opposite half of the constellation from the brightest star, Regor. Mu Velorum is magnitude 2.7 and 117 light-years away.
Because Vela lies along the Milky Way, it has a number of star clusters than you can spot in binoculars or average telescopes. The Eight-Burst Nebula (NGC 3132 or Southern Ring Nebula) lies right on the border with Vela and Antlia the Air Pump. The Eight-Burst Nebula is a magnitude-9.8 planetary nebula ring with a central star. Its central star is actually a binary star.
NGC 3201 is a globular cluster about 5 1/2 degrees northwest of Mu Velorum. It shines at magnitude 6.8. Some brighter star clusters lie in the western part of the constellation. Two degrees south of Regor is NGC 2547, at magnitude 4.7. Five degrees east is IC 2395, at magnitude 4. Just less than two degrees northwest of Delta Velorum is IC 2391, a gathering of stars that you can easily see with the unaided eye at magnitude 2. Through binoculars, a second cluster pops into view nearby, NGC 2669.
Vela is a southern delight for those wishing to spy star clusters in the Milky Way.
Bottom line: Vela the Sails is a constellation that was once part of the large Argo Navis the Ship. You can see it best from the Southern Hemisphere on March evenings.
The former constellation of Argo Navis the Ship is now the modern constellations of Puppis the Stern, Vela the Sails and Carina the Keel. You can find these constellations south of Sirius. These constellations are easiest to see from the Southern Hemisphere.
Vela the Sails, a constellation in the Southern Hemisphere, is part of a large ship made up of several constellations. The ship was once a constellation itself, known as Argo Navis. Because of its large size, it has since been broken down into four different, smaller constellations. They include Vela the Sails, Carina the Keel, Puppis the Stern and Pyxis the Compass.
How to locate Vela the Sails
Vela lies north of Carina. It’s halfway between Carina’s incredibly bright star (and the second brightest in the sky) Canopus and the distinctive shape of the Southern Cross, or Crux. Then, it’s just a bit north from a line drawn between these two points. March is the best month to try to spot Vela.
The stars of Vela
The brightest star in Vela is Gamma Velorum, or Regor. It shines at magnitude 1.8 and lies 1,095 light-years from Earth. A little over nine degrees away and similar in brightness is Delta Velorum. At magnitude 1.9, it is only 80 light-years away.
Vela has three other moderately bright stars. The first is about 5 1/2 degrees from the last star, Delta Velorum. This star is Kappa Velorum, which has a magnitude of 2.4 and a distance of 572 light-years. Lambda Velorum, also known as Suhail, shines at magnitude 2.2 from a distance of 545 light-years. Finally is Mu Velorum, which lies on the opposite half of the constellation from the brightest star, Regor. Mu Velorum is magnitude 2.7 and 117 light-years away.
Because Vela lies along the Milky Way, it has a number of star clusters than you can spot in binoculars or average telescopes. The Eight-Burst Nebula (NGC 3132 or Southern Ring Nebula) lies right on the border with Vela and Antlia the Air Pump. The Eight-Burst Nebula is a magnitude-9.8 planetary nebula ring with a central star. Its central star is actually a binary star.
NGC 3201 is a globular cluster about 5 1/2 degrees northwest of Mu Velorum. It shines at magnitude 6.8. Some brighter star clusters lie in the western part of the constellation. Two degrees south of Regor is NGC 2547, at magnitude 4.7. Five degrees east is IC 2395, at magnitude 4. Just less than two degrees northwest of Delta Velorum is IC 2391, a gathering of stars that you can easily see with the unaided eye at magnitude 2. Through binoculars, a second cluster pops into view nearby, NGC 2669.
Vela is a southern delight for those wishing to spy star clusters in the Milky Way.
Bottom line: Vela the Sails is a constellation that was once part of the large Argo Navis the Ship. You can see it best from the Southern Hemisphere on March evenings.
At a press conference on Tuesday morning, March 24, 2026, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced a series of new agency-wide initiatives for the space agency. NASA is calling this realignment by the name Ignition. Led by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, the initiative shifts the agency’s focus toward a “mission-first” culture. It’s designed to accelerate the timeline for a permanent lunar base and deep-space exploration. Isaacman said:
NASA is committed to achieving the near-impossible once again, to return to the moon [by early 2029], build a moon base, establish an enduring presence, and do the other things needed to ensure American leadership in space. This is why it is essential we leave an event like Ignition with complete alignment on the national imperative that is our collective mission. The clock is running in this great-power competition, and success or failure will be measured in months, not years
If we concentrate NASA’s extraordinary resources on the objectives of the National Space Policy, clear away needless obstacles that impede progress, and unleash the workforce and industrial might of our nation and partners, then returning to the moon and building a base will seem pale in comparison to what we will be capable of accomplishing in the years ahead.
Today we are aligning NASA around the mission. On the moon, we are shifting to a focused, phased architecture that builds capability landing by landing, incrementally, and in alignment with our industrial and international partners. In low Earth orbit (LEO), we are recognizing where the market is and where it isn’t, recognizing the incredible value of the International Space Station, and building a transition that builds a competitive commercial ecosystem rather than forcing a single outcome the market cannot support.
In our science missions, we are opening the lunar surface to researchers and students nationwide, and with Space Reactor-1 Freedom, we are finally putting nuclear propulsion on a trajectory out of the laboratory and into deep space. And this is all possible by investing in our people, bringing critical skills back into the agency, putting our teams where the machines are being built, and creating real pathways for the next generation of NASA leaders. Our workforce is the jewel of NASA, and from their leaders, they need clear mission goals, the tools to execute, and to get out of their way. This is what Ignition is about.
With humanity’s return to the moon on the way, skeptics have returned to an age-old conspiracy. They’re saying there’s no way humans could survive a journey through the Van Allen radiation belts surrounding our planet. In this short video, EarthSky’s Will Triggs explains why they’re wrong.
Going back to the moon
The announcements build on recent updates to the Artemis program. Artemis 2, which will carry a human crew around the moon and back, might launch as soon as early April. The new initiatives include standardizing the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket configuration, adding an additional mission in 2027, and undertaking at least one surface landing every year thereafter. Artemis 3 – scheduled for 2027 – will focus on testing integrated systems and operational capabilities in Earth orbit in advance of the Artemis 4 lunar landing.
Looking beyond Artemis 5, NASA announced March 24 it will begin to incorporate more commercially procured and reusable hardware to undertake frequent and affordable crewed missions to the lunar surface, initially targeting landings every six months, with the potential to increase cadence as capabilities mature.
To achieve an enduring human presence on the moon, NASA also announced a phased approach to building a lunar base. As part of this strategy, the agency intends to pause Gateway in its current form and shift focus to infrastructure that enables sustained surface operations. Despite challenges with some existing hardware, the agency will repurpose applicable equipment and leverage international partner commitments to support these objectives.
In the coming days, NASA will release Requests for Information (RFIs) and draft Requests for Proposals (RFPs) to ensure continued progress in meeting national objectives.
Building the moon base
NASA’s plan for establishing a sustained lunar presence will roll out in three deliberate phases.
Phase One: Build, Test, Learn
NASA shifts from bespoke, infrequent missions to a repeatable, modular approach. Through CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) deliveries and the LTV (Lunar Terrain Vehicle) program, the agency will increase the tempo of lunar activity, sending rovers, instruments, and technology demonstrations that advance mobility, power generation (including radioisotope heater units and radioisotope thermoelectric generators), communications, navigation, surface operations, and a wide range of scientific investigations.
Phase Two: Establish Early Infrastructure
With lessons from early missions in hand, NASA moves toward semi-habitable infrastructure and regular logistics. This phase supports recurring astronaut operations on the surface and incorporates major international contributions, including JAXA’s (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) pressurized rover, and potentially other partner scientific payloads, rovers, and infrastructure/transportation capabilities.
Phase Three: Enable Long-Duration Human Presence
As cargo-capable human landing systems (HLS) come online, NASA will deliver heavier infrastructure needed for a continuous human foothold on the moon, marking the transition from periodic expeditions to a permanent lunar base. This will include ASI’s (Italian Space Agency) Multi-purpose Habitats (MPH), CSA’s (Canadian Space Agency) Lunar Utility Vehicle, and opportunities for additional contributions in habitation, surface mobility and logistics.
New initiatives in low-Earth orbit
While building a sustainable lunar architecture, NASA is also reaffirming its commitment to low Earth orbit. For more than two decades, the International Space Station has served as a world-class orbital laboratory, enabling more than 4,000 research investigations, supporting more than 5,000 researchers, and hosting visitors from 26 countries. The space station required 37 shuttle flights, 160 spacewalks, two decades, and more than $100 billion to design, develop, and build. The orbital laboratory cannot operate indefinitely. The transition to commercial stations must be thoughtful, deliberate, and structured to support long-term industry success.
NASA is introducing and seeking industry feedback on an additional LEO strategy that preserves all current pathways while adding a phased, International Space Station-anchored approach to avoid any gap in U.S. human presence and mature a robust commercial ecosystem. Under this alternative approach, NASA would procure a government-owned Core Module that attaches to the space station, followed by commercial modules that are validated using International Space Station capabilities and later detach into free flight. After maturing technical and operational capabilities and market demand is realized, the stations would detach and NASA would be one of many customers purchasing commercial services. To stimulate the orbital economy, NASA would expand industry opportunities, including private astronaut missions, commander seat sales, joint missions, multiple module competitions, and prize-based awards.
An industry RFI opens Wednesday, March 25, to inform partnership structures, financing, and risk mitigation.
Advancing world-changing discovery with current, developing science missions
In a Golden Age of exploration and discovery, NASA takes full advantage of every opportunity to get science into space. The James Webb Space Telescope continues to transform our understanding of the early universe, Parker Solar Probe has flown through the atmosphere of the Sun, NASA has shown it can defend the planet by deflecting asteroids, and Earth science data is used extensively by American companies, U.S. agriculture, and disaster relief. On the International Space Station, NASA is conducting groundbreaking experiments in quantum science.
Future opportunities will advance U.S. leadership in space science. The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, launching as early as this fall, will advance our understanding of dark energy, and has created a new standard for the management of large science missions. Dragonfly will launch a nuclear-powered octocopter in 2028, arriving at Saturn’s moon Titan in 2034 to explore its complex, organic-rich environment. In 2028, NASA will launch and deliver ESA’s (European Space Agency) Rosalind Franklin Rover to Mars, with NASA’s contributed mass spectrometer for the Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer (MOMA) instrument, which may result in the most advanced detection and analysis of organic matter ever conducted on Mars. A new Earth science mission launching next year will measure for the first time the evolution of the dynamics within convective storms to improve the prediction of extreme weather events up to six hours before the storm occurs.
The agency detailed how advancements in lunar science also will be afforded by the build out of the moon base and underpin future moon and Mars exploration. With an accelerated CLPS cadence, targeting up to 30 robotic landings starting in 2027, NASA is expediting delivery of science and technology to the lunar surface. There will be many opportunities for payload delivery including rovers, hoppers, and drones with contributions welcomed from industry, academia, and international partners. Near-term payloads include the VIPER rover and the LuSEE-Night mission. An RFI will be released March 24 that calls for payloads capable of supporting NASA’s science and technology goals for additional 2027 and 2028 flights. It will enable students and researchers across the country to work on scientific instruments for use on the surface of the moon in the years ahead. This RFI also will solicit payloads incorporated on future missions to Mars including the Mars Telecom Network (MTN) and a nuclear technology demonstration mission.
The agency intends to partner with philanthropic and privately funded research organizations with shared objectives in space science.
Other RFIs released March 24 will strengthen “Science as a Service” partnerships and commercial capabilities, allowing NASA to streamline legacy operations and focus investment on the transformational missions only the agency can lead.
Finally, NASA will unveil a previously unseen pair of images from the James Webb and Hubble Space Telescopes. These images show the planet Saturn in unprecedented detail in both infrared and visible wavelengths.
Nuclear-powered mission to Mars
In addition to these scientific missions, after decades of study and in response to the National Space Policy, NASA announced a major step forward in bringing nuclear power and propulsion from the lab to space.
NASA will launch the Space Reactor-1 Freedom, the first nuclear powered interplanetary spacecraft, to Mars before the end of 2028, demonstrating advanced nuclear electric propulsion in deep space. Nuclear electric propulsion provides an extraordinary capability for efficient mass transport in deep space and enables high power missions beyond Jupiter where solar arrays are not effective.
When SR-1 Freedom reaches Mars, it will deploy the Skyfall payload of Ingenuity-class helicopters to continue exploring the Red Planet. SR-1 Freedom will establish flight heritage nuclear hardware, set regulatory and launch precedent, and activate the industrial base for future fission power systems across propulsion, surface, and long-duration missions. NASA and its U.S. Department of Energy partner will unlock the capabilities required for sustained exploration beyond the moon and eventual journeys to Mars and the outer solar system.
None of these endeavors can succeed without the NASA workforce. As previously announced, the agency is rebuilding its core competencies, converting thousands of contractor positions to civil service, and restoring the engineering, technical, and operational strengths expected of the world’s premier space organization.
NASA is expanding opportunities for interns and early-career professionals and, in partnership with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and NASA Force, is creating new pathways for experienced industry talent to serve through term-based appointments. The agency also is seeking to open opportunities for NASA employees to gain valuable experience working within the most technologically advanced space industry in history.
The new NASA initiatives announced on March 24 will be implemented during the coming months, with teams agencywide ensuring a smooth transition while advancing key programs and partnerships.
NASA will embed subject matter experts across the supply chain – at every major vendor, subcontractor, and critical-path component – to challenge assumptions, solve problems, accelerate production, and help ensure the right outcomes are achieved.
Through these reforms, NASA is strengthening its ability to deliver on the President’s National Space Policy and ensure continued American superiority in space.
Bottom line: Moon base and Mars! NASA administrator Jared Isaacman announced them as part of a series of new NASA initiatives on March 24, 2026.
At a press conference on Tuesday morning, March 24, 2026, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman announced a series of new agency-wide initiatives for the space agency. NASA is calling this realignment by the name Ignition. Led by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, the initiative shifts the agency’s focus toward a “mission-first” culture. It’s designed to accelerate the timeline for a permanent lunar base and deep-space exploration. Isaacman said:
NASA is committed to achieving the near-impossible once again, to return to the moon [by early 2029], build a moon base, establish an enduring presence, and do the other things needed to ensure American leadership in space. This is why it is essential we leave an event like Ignition with complete alignment on the national imperative that is our collective mission. The clock is running in this great-power competition, and success or failure will be measured in months, not years
If we concentrate NASA’s extraordinary resources on the objectives of the National Space Policy, clear away needless obstacles that impede progress, and unleash the workforce and industrial might of our nation and partners, then returning to the moon and building a base will seem pale in comparison to what we will be capable of accomplishing in the years ahead.
Today we are aligning NASA around the mission. On the moon, we are shifting to a focused, phased architecture that builds capability landing by landing, incrementally, and in alignment with our industrial and international partners. In low Earth orbit (LEO), we are recognizing where the market is and where it isn’t, recognizing the incredible value of the International Space Station, and building a transition that builds a competitive commercial ecosystem rather than forcing a single outcome the market cannot support.
In our science missions, we are opening the lunar surface to researchers and students nationwide, and with Space Reactor-1 Freedom, we are finally putting nuclear propulsion on a trajectory out of the laboratory and into deep space. And this is all possible by investing in our people, bringing critical skills back into the agency, putting our teams where the machines are being built, and creating real pathways for the next generation of NASA leaders. Our workforce is the jewel of NASA, and from their leaders, they need clear mission goals, the tools to execute, and to get out of their way. This is what Ignition is about.
With humanity’s return to the moon on the way, skeptics have returned to an age-old conspiracy. They’re saying there’s no way humans could survive a journey through the Van Allen radiation belts surrounding our planet. In this short video, EarthSky’s Will Triggs explains why they’re wrong.
Going back to the moon
The announcements build on recent updates to the Artemis program. Artemis 2, which will carry a human crew around the moon and back, might launch as soon as early April. The new initiatives include standardizing the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket configuration, adding an additional mission in 2027, and undertaking at least one surface landing every year thereafter. Artemis 3 – scheduled for 2027 – will focus on testing integrated systems and operational capabilities in Earth orbit in advance of the Artemis 4 lunar landing.
Looking beyond Artemis 5, NASA announced March 24 it will begin to incorporate more commercially procured and reusable hardware to undertake frequent and affordable crewed missions to the lunar surface, initially targeting landings every six months, with the potential to increase cadence as capabilities mature.
To achieve an enduring human presence on the moon, NASA also announced a phased approach to building a lunar base. As part of this strategy, the agency intends to pause Gateway in its current form and shift focus to infrastructure that enables sustained surface operations. Despite challenges with some existing hardware, the agency will repurpose applicable equipment and leverage international partner commitments to support these objectives.
In the coming days, NASA will release Requests for Information (RFIs) and draft Requests for Proposals (RFPs) to ensure continued progress in meeting national objectives.
Building the moon base
NASA’s plan for establishing a sustained lunar presence will roll out in three deliberate phases.
Phase One: Build, Test, Learn
NASA shifts from bespoke, infrequent missions to a repeatable, modular approach. Through CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) deliveries and the LTV (Lunar Terrain Vehicle) program, the agency will increase the tempo of lunar activity, sending rovers, instruments, and technology demonstrations that advance mobility, power generation (including radioisotope heater units and radioisotope thermoelectric generators), communications, navigation, surface operations, and a wide range of scientific investigations.
Phase Two: Establish Early Infrastructure
With lessons from early missions in hand, NASA moves toward semi-habitable infrastructure and regular logistics. This phase supports recurring astronaut operations on the surface and incorporates major international contributions, including JAXA’s (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) pressurized rover, and potentially other partner scientific payloads, rovers, and infrastructure/transportation capabilities.
Phase Three: Enable Long-Duration Human Presence
As cargo-capable human landing systems (HLS) come online, NASA will deliver heavier infrastructure needed for a continuous human foothold on the moon, marking the transition from periodic expeditions to a permanent lunar base. This will include ASI’s (Italian Space Agency) Multi-purpose Habitats (MPH), CSA’s (Canadian Space Agency) Lunar Utility Vehicle, and opportunities for additional contributions in habitation, surface mobility and logistics.
New initiatives in low-Earth orbit
While building a sustainable lunar architecture, NASA is also reaffirming its commitment to low Earth orbit. For more than two decades, the International Space Station has served as a world-class orbital laboratory, enabling more than 4,000 research investigations, supporting more than 5,000 researchers, and hosting visitors from 26 countries. The space station required 37 shuttle flights, 160 spacewalks, two decades, and more than $100 billion to design, develop, and build. The orbital laboratory cannot operate indefinitely. The transition to commercial stations must be thoughtful, deliberate, and structured to support long-term industry success.
NASA is introducing and seeking industry feedback on an additional LEO strategy that preserves all current pathways while adding a phased, International Space Station-anchored approach to avoid any gap in U.S. human presence and mature a robust commercial ecosystem. Under this alternative approach, NASA would procure a government-owned Core Module that attaches to the space station, followed by commercial modules that are validated using International Space Station capabilities and later detach into free flight. After maturing technical and operational capabilities and market demand is realized, the stations would detach and NASA would be one of many customers purchasing commercial services. To stimulate the orbital economy, NASA would expand industry opportunities, including private astronaut missions, commander seat sales, joint missions, multiple module competitions, and prize-based awards.
An industry RFI opens Wednesday, March 25, to inform partnership structures, financing, and risk mitigation.
Advancing world-changing discovery with current, developing science missions
In a Golden Age of exploration and discovery, NASA takes full advantage of every opportunity to get science into space. The James Webb Space Telescope continues to transform our understanding of the early universe, Parker Solar Probe has flown through the atmosphere of the Sun, NASA has shown it can defend the planet by deflecting asteroids, and Earth science data is used extensively by American companies, U.S. agriculture, and disaster relief. On the International Space Station, NASA is conducting groundbreaking experiments in quantum science.
Future opportunities will advance U.S. leadership in space science. The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, launching as early as this fall, will advance our understanding of dark energy, and has created a new standard for the management of large science missions. Dragonfly will launch a nuclear-powered octocopter in 2028, arriving at Saturn’s moon Titan in 2034 to explore its complex, organic-rich environment. In 2028, NASA will launch and deliver ESA’s (European Space Agency) Rosalind Franklin Rover to Mars, with NASA’s contributed mass spectrometer for the Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer (MOMA) instrument, which may result in the most advanced detection and analysis of organic matter ever conducted on Mars. A new Earth science mission launching next year will measure for the first time the evolution of the dynamics within convective storms to improve the prediction of extreme weather events up to six hours before the storm occurs.
The agency detailed how advancements in lunar science also will be afforded by the build out of the moon base and underpin future moon and Mars exploration. With an accelerated CLPS cadence, targeting up to 30 robotic landings starting in 2027, NASA is expediting delivery of science and technology to the lunar surface. There will be many opportunities for payload delivery including rovers, hoppers, and drones with contributions welcomed from industry, academia, and international partners. Near-term payloads include the VIPER rover and the LuSEE-Night mission. An RFI will be released March 24 that calls for payloads capable of supporting NASA’s science and technology goals for additional 2027 and 2028 flights. It will enable students and researchers across the country to work on scientific instruments for use on the surface of the moon in the years ahead. This RFI also will solicit payloads incorporated on future missions to Mars including the Mars Telecom Network (MTN) and a nuclear technology demonstration mission.
The agency intends to partner with philanthropic and privately funded research organizations with shared objectives in space science.
Other RFIs released March 24 will strengthen “Science as a Service” partnerships and commercial capabilities, allowing NASA to streamline legacy operations and focus investment on the transformational missions only the agency can lead.
Finally, NASA will unveil a previously unseen pair of images from the James Webb and Hubble Space Telescopes. These images show the planet Saturn in unprecedented detail in both infrared and visible wavelengths.
Nuclear-powered mission to Mars
In addition to these scientific missions, after decades of study and in response to the National Space Policy, NASA announced a major step forward in bringing nuclear power and propulsion from the lab to space.
NASA will launch the Space Reactor-1 Freedom, the first nuclear powered interplanetary spacecraft, to Mars before the end of 2028, demonstrating advanced nuclear electric propulsion in deep space. Nuclear electric propulsion provides an extraordinary capability for efficient mass transport in deep space and enables high power missions beyond Jupiter where solar arrays are not effective.
When SR-1 Freedom reaches Mars, it will deploy the Skyfall payload of Ingenuity-class helicopters to continue exploring the Red Planet. SR-1 Freedom will establish flight heritage nuclear hardware, set regulatory and launch precedent, and activate the industrial base for future fission power systems across propulsion, surface, and long-duration missions. NASA and its U.S. Department of Energy partner will unlock the capabilities required for sustained exploration beyond the moon and eventual journeys to Mars and the outer solar system.
None of these endeavors can succeed without the NASA workforce. As previously announced, the agency is rebuilding its core competencies, converting thousands of contractor positions to civil service, and restoring the engineering, technical, and operational strengths expected of the world’s premier space organization.
NASA is expanding opportunities for interns and early-career professionals and, in partnership with the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and NASA Force, is creating new pathways for experienced industry talent to serve through term-based appointments. The agency also is seeking to open opportunities for NASA employees to gain valuable experience working within the most technologically advanced space industry in history.
The new NASA initiatives announced on March 24 will be implemented during the coming months, with teams agencywide ensuring a smooth transition while advancing key programs and partnerships.
NASA will embed subject matter experts across the supply chain – at every major vendor, subcontractor, and critical-path component – to challenge assumptions, solve problems, accelerate production, and help ensure the right outcomes are achieved.
Through these reforms, NASA is strengthening its ability to deliver on the President’s National Space Policy and ensure continued American superiority in space.
Bottom line: Moon base and Mars! NASA administrator Jared Isaacman announced them as part of a series of new NASA initiatives on March 24, 2026.
This is an artist’s depiction of the new South Korean juvenile dinosaur, Doolysaurus huhmini. Also in the image are birds and other dinosaurs that lived during the mid-Cretaceous of present-day South Korea. Image via Jun Seong Yi/ University of Texas at Austin.
Scientists discovered a new baby dinosaur in South Korea. They named it Doolysaurus, after a beloved Korean cartoon character.
They scanned the fossil using micro-CT technology, revealing hidden bones and skull parts without disturbing the rock.
The researchers also found over 40 stomach stones with the bones. These suggest Doolysaurus was an omnivore that ate both plants and small animals.
The small, fuzzy, baby dinosaur may have looked like a lamb
Scientists have discovered the fossils of a rather charming baby dinosaur in South Korea. The researchers from the University of Texas at Austin said on March 19, 2026, that it was an omnivorous, turkey-sized youngster, about two years old. And it ran around on its hind feet. Plus, researchers think it might have had a coat of fuzzy hair-like filaments. They named it Doolysaurus huhmini, after a cute and mischievous green baby dinosaur named Dooly. Dooly is a much-loved character in a South Korean cartoon series.
Jongyun Jung, at the University of Texas at Austin, is the lead author of the new paper. Jung said:
Dooly is one of the very famous, iconic dinosaur characters in Korea. Every generation in Korea knows this character. And our specimen is also a juvenile or ‘baby,’ so it’s perfect for our dinosaur species name to honor Dooly.
Julia Clarke, also at the University of Texas at Austin, is a paper co-author. She added:
I think it would have been pretty cute. It might have looked a bit like a little lamb.
A video introduction to Dooly, a beloved baby dinosaur cartoon character in South Korea. The video is in Korean.
A high-tech dinosaur reveal
Researchers have found dinosaur tracks and eggs in Korea before, but dinosaur bones have been rare. In fact, Doolysaurus is the first dinosaur described from fossilized bones in South Korea in 15 years. Paper co-author Hyemin Jo found the fossil in 2023 on Aphae Island, located off the southwestern coast of South Korea.
The fossil was a partial skeleton entombed in hard rock. As a result, scientists had to excavate the rock containing the fossils as a block, with bones still buried inside. A fossil preparator will need several years to gently recover the delicate fossils.
But the scientists did not have to wait that long to find out what was hidden in the block. They scanned its interior using micro computed tomography (micro-CT) at the University of Texas at Austin. This technique uses X-rays to probe the rock, revealing three-dimensional images of what lies within it.
The researchers were delighted to see that the micro-CT scans revealed more bones, including parts of the skull. Jung commented:
When we first found the specimen, we saw some leg bones preserved and some vertebrae. We didn’t expect skull parts and so many more bones. There was a fair amount of excitement when we saw what was hidden inside the block.
This was a significant find because it’s the first dinosaur with parts of its skull, including teeth, that scientists have recovered in South Korea.
This figure shows the probable skeletal anatomy of the juvenile Doolysaurus huhmini. The white shade represents the fossil bones found inside the block. Also, the bones around the skeletal figure are micro-CT scans of each bone. Image via Janet Cañamar, adapted from Jung et al 2026/ University of Texas at Austin.
What we know about Doolysaurus
As previously mentioned, the dinosaur’s genus name, Doolysaurus, celebrates the beloved Korean cartoon dinosaur, Dooly. Meanwhile, its species name, huhmini, honors the prominent Korean paleontologist Min Huh. He founded the Korean Dinosaur Research Center and has studied Korean dinosaurs for more than 30 years.
Scientists found Doolysaurus in rock dating between 113 million to 94 million years ago, placing the dinosaur in the mid-Cretaceous period. It was a juvenile, around two years old, when it died. The researchers were able to determine its approximate age by studying growth markers visible in a thin slice of the dinosaur’s femur (thigh bone). It was the size of a turkey and may have weighed just 18 pounds (8.3 kg). Moreover, the scientists think that an adult Doolysaurus could have been double that size.
The bones also placed Doolysaurus in the Thescelosaurid family of dinosaurs. Scientists have found these types of dinosaurs in East Asia and North America; they were bi-pedal and may have had a coat of fuzzy hair-like filaments.
This is a photo featuring 3 of the paper authors. It also includes the person that the scientists honored with the new dinosaur species name, Doolysaurus huhmini. From left to right: Julia Clarke, Min Huh (partly named in his honor), Hyemin Jo and Jongyun Jung. Image via Jongyun Jung/ University of Texas at Austin.
They also found gastroliths
The scientists also found over 40 pebbles among the bones in the block, ranging in size from 1/16th to 4/10th of an inch (2 to 10 mm). These are gastroliths, also called stomach stones. Herbivorous and omnivorous dinosaurs swallowed pebbles to grind food in their digestive tract. (Some living animals, such as crocodiles, alligators, and herbivorous birds, also carry gastroliths.)
The size and shape of the gastroliths they found suggested that Doolysaurus was an omnivore. It likely fed on plants and small animals including insects. In fact, it was the presence of some gastroliths at the surface of the rock that led the scientists to scan the block to look for additional bones.
Clark remarked:
A little cluster of stomach stones, with two leg bones sticking out, indicates that the animal was not fully pulled apart before it has hit the fossil record. So, I encouraged [Jung and co-authors Minguk Kim and Hyemin Jo] to visit Texas and the University of Texas High-Resolution X-ray Computed Tomography (UTCT) [facility], to try scanning the fossil.
Because the researchers found Doolysaurus largely encased in rock, they hope more dinosaur bones await discovery in South Korea. Jung also hopes to continue using micro-CT technology to expose more hidden fossils.
Bottom line: Scientists discovered a new dinosaur, thought to be two years old, and named it after Dooly, a popular South Korean baby dinosaur cartoon character.
This is an artist’s depiction of the new South Korean juvenile dinosaur, Doolysaurus huhmini. Also in the image are birds and other dinosaurs that lived during the mid-Cretaceous of present-day South Korea. Image via Jun Seong Yi/ University of Texas at Austin.
Scientists discovered a new baby dinosaur in South Korea. They named it Doolysaurus, after a beloved Korean cartoon character.
They scanned the fossil using micro-CT technology, revealing hidden bones and skull parts without disturbing the rock.
The researchers also found over 40 stomach stones with the bones. These suggest Doolysaurus was an omnivore that ate both plants and small animals.
The small, fuzzy, baby dinosaur may have looked like a lamb
Scientists have discovered the fossils of a rather charming baby dinosaur in South Korea. The researchers from the University of Texas at Austin said on March 19, 2026, that it was an omnivorous, turkey-sized youngster, about two years old. And it ran around on its hind feet. Plus, researchers think it might have had a coat of fuzzy hair-like filaments. They named it Doolysaurus huhmini, after a cute and mischievous green baby dinosaur named Dooly. Dooly is a much-loved character in a South Korean cartoon series.
Jongyun Jung, at the University of Texas at Austin, is the lead author of the new paper. Jung said:
Dooly is one of the very famous, iconic dinosaur characters in Korea. Every generation in Korea knows this character. And our specimen is also a juvenile or ‘baby,’ so it’s perfect for our dinosaur species name to honor Dooly.
Julia Clarke, also at the University of Texas at Austin, is a paper co-author. She added:
I think it would have been pretty cute. It might have looked a bit like a little lamb.
A video introduction to Dooly, a beloved baby dinosaur cartoon character in South Korea. The video is in Korean.
A high-tech dinosaur reveal
Researchers have found dinosaur tracks and eggs in Korea before, but dinosaur bones have been rare. In fact, Doolysaurus is the first dinosaur described from fossilized bones in South Korea in 15 years. Paper co-author Hyemin Jo found the fossil in 2023 on Aphae Island, located off the southwestern coast of South Korea.
The fossil was a partial skeleton entombed in hard rock. As a result, scientists had to excavate the rock containing the fossils as a block, with bones still buried inside. A fossil preparator will need several years to gently recover the delicate fossils.
But the scientists did not have to wait that long to find out what was hidden in the block. They scanned its interior using micro computed tomography (micro-CT) at the University of Texas at Austin. This technique uses X-rays to probe the rock, revealing three-dimensional images of what lies within it.
The researchers were delighted to see that the micro-CT scans revealed more bones, including parts of the skull. Jung commented:
When we first found the specimen, we saw some leg bones preserved and some vertebrae. We didn’t expect skull parts and so many more bones. There was a fair amount of excitement when we saw what was hidden inside the block.
This was a significant find because it’s the first dinosaur with parts of its skull, including teeth, that scientists have recovered in South Korea.
This figure shows the probable skeletal anatomy of the juvenile Doolysaurus huhmini. The white shade represents the fossil bones found inside the block. Also, the bones around the skeletal figure are micro-CT scans of each bone. Image via Janet Cañamar, adapted from Jung et al 2026/ University of Texas at Austin.
What we know about Doolysaurus
As previously mentioned, the dinosaur’s genus name, Doolysaurus, celebrates the beloved Korean cartoon dinosaur, Dooly. Meanwhile, its species name, huhmini, honors the prominent Korean paleontologist Min Huh. He founded the Korean Dinosaur Research Center and has studied Korean dinosaurs for more than 30 years.
Scientists found Doolysaurus in rock dating between 113 million to 94 million years ago, placing the dinosaur in the mid-Cretaceous period. It was a juvenile, around two years old, when it died. The researchers were able to determine its approximate age by studying growth markers visible in a thin slice of the dinosaur’s femur (thigh bone). It was the size of a turkey and may have weighed just 18 pounds (8.3 kg). Moreover, the scientists think that an adult Doolysaurus could have been double that size.
The bones also placed Doolysaurus in the Thescelosaurid family of dinosaurs. Scientists have found these types of dinosaurs in East Asia and North America; they were bi-pedal and may have had a coat of fuzzy hair-like filaments.
This is a photo featuring 3 of the paper authors. It also includes the person that the scientists honored with the new dinosaur species name, Doolysaurus huhmini. From left to right: Julia Clarke, Min Huh (partly named in his honor), Hyemin Jo and Jongyun Jung. Image via Jongyun Jung/ University of Texas at Austin.
They also found gastroliths
The scientists also found over 40 pebbles among the bones in the block, ranging in size from 1/16th to 4/10th of an inch (2 to 10 mm). These are gastroliths, also called stomach stones. Herbivorous and omnivorous dinosaurs swallowed pebbles to grind food in their digestive tract. (Some living animals, such as crocodiles, alligators, and herbivorous birds, also carry gastroliths.)
The size and shape of the gastroliths they found suggested that Doolysaurus was an omnivore. It likely fed on plants and small animals including insects. In fact, it was the presence of some gastroliths at the surface of the rock that led the scientists to scan the block to look for additional bones.
Clark remarked:
A little cluster of stomach stones, with two leg bones sticking out, indicates that the animal was not fully pulled apart before it has hit the fossil record. So, I encouraged [Jung and co-authors Minguk Kim and Hyemin Jo] to visit Texas and the University of Texas High-Resolution X-ray Computed Tomography (UTCT) [facility], to try scanning the fossil.
Because the researchers found Doolysaurus largely encased in rock, they hope more dinosaur bones await discovery in South Korea. Jung also hopes to continue using micro-CT technology to expose more hidden fossils.
Bottom line: Scientists discovered a new dinosaur, thought to be two years old, and named it after Dooly, a popular South Korean baby dinosaur cartoon character.
We in the Northern Hemisphere think of Orion as a winter constellation. As our northern spring arrives – around late March and early April – we see Orion shifting into the sunset glare. That’s happening because Earth is a planet, moving in orbit around a star. In fact, all stars and constellations do a westward shift in our sky.
If you’re out on an evening walk in late March or early April, notice this seasonal aspect of the night sky. The famous constellation Orion the Hunter – an easy-to-spot star pattern in January and February – now seems to have moved and turned considerably. It’s very low in the western part of the sky when the sun goes down.
Orion will soon disappear into the sun’s glare. Orion, like all the stars and constellations, shifts westward as the seasons pass. Unless they’re in the far northern or southern sky – and so circumpolar – all stars and constellations spend some portion of each year hidden in the sun’s glare.
In other words, like blooms on trees or certain flowers or even specific animals in your locale, stars have their own seasons of visibility.
All stars move westward in a single night
All the stars and their constellations also move westward in the course of a single night. Orion is no exception. That motion, though, is due to Earth’s spin.
But the seasonal disappearance of Orion – its sinking into the sunset glare during the northern spring months (southern fall months) – is something else. It’s as if we’re riding on a carousel through space – spinning, yes – but also the entire structure is moving. That is, Earth is moving in orbit around the sun. As we move in orbit, our night sky points out in different directions – toward different parts of the Milky Way galaxy – at different times of year.
Earth’s motion in orbit brings the sun between us and Orion at this same time each year.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Stephanie Longo in Woodland Park, Colorado, went outside around 8 p.m. on March 20, to capture this photo. She wrote: “We’ve had frequent snow storms and bitter cold this winter in the mountains of Colorado so I haven’t been able to get out to my favorite viewing sites, but we have a beautiful view of the western sky on my street … you can clearly see Sirius, Orion, Taurus, the Pleiades, Venus just above the horizon and the Twins and Auriga and part of Perseus above. A truly beautiful night sky over snowy, cold Colorado.” Thank you, Stephanie! Want to identify the stars Stephanie mentioned? Try Stellarium online.
When will you see it last?
Exactly when Orion will disappear from your evening sky – into the sunset – depends on your latitude. The farther south you are, the longer you can see Orion. But for the central U.S., Orion is lost in the sun’s glare by early to mid-May (depending on how carefully you look for it).
And for all of us in the U.S., Orion is gone by the time of the summer solstice in June.
If you want to notice the westward shift of the constellations due to the passage of the seasons, be sure to watch at the same time every night. If you want to watch their westward shift throughout the night, just pull up a lawn chair and watch.
Either way, you can easily notice Orion moving steadily westward.
The westward shift of the sky throughout the night is due to Earth’s spin under the stars. Meanwhile, the westward shift of the stars throughout the seasons is due to Earth’s motion in orbit around the sun. Earth’s motion in orbit causes our night sky to point outward toward an ever-shifting panorama of the galaxy. Image via NASA/ NOAA/ GSFC/ Suomi NPP/ VIIRS/ Norman Kuring.
Bottom line: Why the constellation Orion – and all the stars – shift westward as the seasons pass.
We in the Northern Hemisphere think of Orion as a winter constellation. As our northern spring arrives – around late March and early April – we see Orion shifting into the sunset glare. That’s happening because Earth is a planet, moving in orbit around a star. In fact, all stars and constellations do a westward shift in our sky.
If you’re out on an evening walk in late March or early April, notice this seasonal aspect of the night sky. The famous constellation Orion the Hunter – an easy-to-spot star pattern in January and February – now seems to have moved and turned considerably. It’s very low in the western part of the sky when the sun goes down.
Orion will soon disappear into the sun’s glare. Orion, like all the stars and constellations, shifts westward as the seasons pass. Unless they’re in the far northern or southern sky – and so circumpolar – all stars and constellations spend some portion of each year hidden in the sun’s glare.
In other words, like blooms on trees or certain flowers or even specific animals in your locale, stars have their own seasons of visibility.
All stars move westward in a single night
All the stars and their constellations also move westward in the course of a single night. Orion is no exception. That motion, though, is due to Earth’s spin.
But the seasonal disappearance of Orion – its sinking into the sunset glare during the northern spring months (southern fall months) – is something else. It’s as if we’re riding on a carousel through space – spinning, yes – but also the entire structure is moving. That is, Earth is moving in orbit around the sun. As we move in orbit, our night sky points out in different directions – toward different parts of the Milky Way galaxy – at different times of year.
Earth’s motion in orbit brings the sun between us and Orion at this same time each year.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Stephanie Longo in Woodland Park, Colorado, went outside around 8 p.m. on March 20, to capture this photo. She wrote: “We’ve had frequent snow storms and bitter cold this winter in the mountains of Colorado so I haven’t been able to get out to my favorite viewing sites, but we have a beautiful view of the western sky on my street … you can clearly see Sirius, Orion, Taurus, the Pleiades, Venus just above the horizon and the Twins and Auriga and part of Perseus above. A truly beautiful night sky over snowy, cold Colorado.” Thank you, Stephanie! Want to identify the stars Stephanie mentioned? Try Stellarium online.
When will you see it last?
Exactly when Orion will disappear from your evening sky – into the sunset – depends on your latitude. The farther south you are, the longer you can see Orion. But for the central U.S., Orion is lost in the sun’s glare by early to mid-May (depending on how carefully you look for it).
And for all of us in the U.S., Orion is gone by the time of the summer solstice in June.
If you want to notice the westward shift of the constellations due to the passage of the seasons, be sure to watch at the same time every night. If you want to watch their westward shift throughout the night, just pull up a lawn chair and watch.
Either way, you can easily notice Orion moving steadily westward.
The westward shift of the sky throughout the night is due to Earth’s spin under the stars. Meanwhile, the westward shift of the stars throughout the seasons is due to Earth’s motion in orbit around the sun. Earth’s motion in orbit causes our night sky to point outward toward an ever-shifting panorama of the galaxy. Image via NASA/ NOAA/ GSFC/ Suomi NPP/ VIIRS/ Norman Kuring.
Bottom line: Why the constellation Orion – and all the stars – shift westward as the seasons pass.
Snow monkeys soak in hot springs to warm up … and boost their health! Image via Eliot Herman. Used with permission.
Japanese macaques, or snow monkeys, famously soak in hot springs to stay warm in freezing winters. A team at Kyoto University said on January 20, 20206, that they studied macaques at Jigokudani Wild Snow Monkey Park over two winters. They wanted to see if hot spring bathing does more than just keep them cozy. And, indeed, it does! The researchers found soaking in warm waters also influences the monkeys’ parasites and the tiny organisms living in their digestive systems, which play a key role in shaping their health.
The team published the study in the peer reviewed Springer Nature journal Primates on January 19, 2026.
A hidden ecosystem inside every monkey
Researchers observed female macaques at the park over two winters. They compared individuals that bathed regularly with those that did not. The researchers looked at the monkey and also those things that live inside and on the monkey. Therefore, they tracked the monkey’s behavior, checked for parasites such as lice (tiny insects that live in fur) and analyzed gut bacteria.
Scientists use the term holobiont to describe an animal and all the microbes and parasites living with it. So you can think of these monkeys as not just one organism but a whole ecosystem.
Snow monkeys are tiny ecosystems on their own. Researchers tracked how hot spring baths shape their behavior, parasites and gut microbes over 2 winters. Image via Eliot Herman. Used with permission.
Subtle changes with meaningful effects
The results revealed small but important differences. Bathing monkeys showed changes in their lice distribution. This suggests hot water may disrupt parasite activity. In the gut, overall bacterial diversity was similar. However, some bacterial types were more common in non-bathing monkeys. And, surprisingly, sharing hot springs did not increase parasite infections. Bathing monkeys did not show higher parasite levels.
Soaking in hot springs subtly shifts snow monkeys’ parasites and gut microbes. The good news is that sharing the hot spring baths doesn’t raise infection risks. Image via Eliot Herman. Used with permission.
Behavior shapes health
These findings show that natural behaviors can shape health in subtle ways beyond their immediate purpose. In this case, hot spring bathing does more than help monkeys stay warm. It also affects the parasites and microbes living on and inside them. Even small shifts in these communities may play a role in shaping overall health. As lead author Abdullah Langgeng of Kyoto University explained:
Behavior is often treated as a response to the environment, but our results show that this behavior doesn’t just affect thermoregulation or stress: it also alters how macaques interact with parasites and microbes that live on and inside them.
The study also points out that, by analogy, behaviors in other species — including human cultural practices such as bathing — can influence microbial exposure. It challenges the assumption that sharing water necessarily increases disease risk, at least under natural conditions.
Beyond keeping warm, hot spring baths subtly shape snow monkeys’ health. It shows how everyday behaviors can influence microbes and parasites. Image via Eliot Herman. Used with permission.
Snow monkeys as social spa users
Snow monkeys live in large family groups and are the only wild primates known to use hot springs regularly. At Jigokudani, these monkeys walk through deep snow to enter pools that can reach nearly 104° F (40° C). Because it can drop below freezing in winter, the hot springs are a toasty treat. As Langgeng said:
Hot spring bathing is one of the most unusual behaviors seen in nonhuman primates.
The habit is learned socially rather than instinctive. Observations show young monkeys often mimic older group members, particularly their mothers. Furthermore, participation varies with age, sex and social rank. Adult females and juveniles tend to bathe more often. Meanwhile, adult males and lower-ranking monkeys bathe less frequently or remain on dry ground. Because the hot springs are limited in size, dominant individuals may spend more time soaking, while others wait their turn or avoid the pools.
Snow monkeys are the only wild primates to soak regularly in hot springs. They brave freezing winters in steamy pools. Image via Eliot Herman. Used with permission.
How the hot spring baths began
The tradition of bathing in hot springs began in the early 1960s, when a young monkey at Korakukan, a traditional inn in the Jigokudani Valley, reached into an outdoor bath, likely drawn by food dropped into the water. Other monkeys began entering the hot springs to follow the example of human guests and soon realized the warm water was very comfortable in the freezing winter conditions. Gradually, more monkeys joined in, creating a social norm within the troop. Consequently, the behavior became so consistent that in 1964 a dedicated hot spring pool was built for the monkeys. Of course today this area is known as Jigokudani Monkey Park.
Snow monkeys learn to bathe socially. Young monkeys copy elders, and dominant individuals soak the most. Image via Eliot Herman. Used with permission.
How snow monkeys avoid getting cold
Do snow monkeys feel cold after their bath? We have towels and hairdryers, but they don’t! Well, unlike humans, who sweat to regulate temperature and lose heat rapidly when exposed to cold, snow monkeys have relatively few sweat glands and do not rely on sweating. This means they do not experience sudden drops in body temperature after leaving the hot springs.
Their thick winter fur provides excellent insulation. Moreover, their bodies are adapted to extreme cold. Capillary vessels at the ends of their limbs constrict in low temperatures, reducing heat loss from hands and feet. These adaptations allow snow monkeys to step onto snow with bare feet or leave the hot springs without risk of frostbite or sudden chilling.
Snow monkeys can step straight from steaming hot springs onto snow. Their fur and body adaptations keep them perfectly cozy in freezing temperatures. Image via Eliot Herman. Used with permission.
A healthy, steamy dip
So while humans debate the benefits of hot baths and spa days, snow monkeys seem to have figured it out. For them, a soak in a hot spring is not just a way to stay warm. It’s part of a lifestyle that shapes their health, one steamy dip at a time.
When life gives you hot springs … soak like a snow monkey! Image via Eliot Herman. Used with permission.
Special thanks to our friend Eliot Herman, who captured all these amazing images and happily shared them with us. Visit his Flickr page here.
Bottom line: Snow monkeys stay warm in hot spring baths. These baths also affect their parasites and gut microbes. It’s a cozy way to get a health benefit!
Snow monkeys soak in hot springs to warm up … and boost their health! Image via Eliot Herman. Used with permission.
Japanese macaques, or snow monkeys, famously soak in hot springs to stay warm in freezing winters. A team at Kyoto University said on January 20, 20206, that they studied macaques at Jigokudani Wild Snow Monkey Park over two winters. They wanted to see if hot spring bathing does more than just keep them cozy. And, indeed, it does! The researchers found soaking in warm waters also influences the monkeys’ parasites and the tiny organisms living in their digestive systems, which play a key role in shaping their health.
The team published the study in the peer reviewed Springer Nature journal Primates on January 19, 2026.
A hidden ecosystem inside every monkey
Researchers observed female macaques at the park over two winters. They compared individuals that bathed regularly with those that did not. The researchers looked at the monkey and also those things that live inside and on the monkey. Therefore, they tracked the monkey’s behavior, checked for parasites such as lice (tiny insects that live in fur) and analyzed gut bacteria.
Scientists use the term holobiont to describe an animal and all the microbes and parasites living with it. So you can think of these monkeys as not just one organism but a whole ecosystem.
Snow monkeys are tiny ecosystems on their own. Researchers tracked how hot spring baths shape their behavior, parasites and gut microbes over 2 winters. Image via Eliot Herman. Used with permission.
Subtle changes with meaningful effects
The results revealed small but important differences. Bathing monkeys showed changes in their lice distribution. This suggests hot water may disrupt parasite activity. In the gut, overall bacterial diversity was similar. However, some bacterial types were more common in non-bathing monkeys. And, surprisingly, sharing hot springs did not increase parasite infections. Bathing monkeys did not show higher parasite levels.
Soaking in hot springs subtly shifts snow monkeys’ parasites and gut microbes. The good news is that sharing the hot spring baths doesn’t raise infection risks. Image via Eliot Herman. Used with permission.
Behavior shapes health
These findings show that natural behaviors can shape health in subtle ways beyond their immediate purpose. In this case, hot spring bathing does more than help monkeys stay warm. It also affects the parasites and microbes living on and inside them. Even small shifts in these communities may play a role in shaping overall health. As lead author Abdullah Langgeng of Kyoto University explained:
Behavior is often treated as a response to the environment, but our results show that this behavior doesn’t just affect thermoregulation or stress: it also alters how macaques interact with parasites and microbes that live on and inside them.
The study also points out that, by analogy, behaviors in other species — including human cultural practices such as bathing — can influence microbial exposure. It challenges the assumption that sharing water necessarily increases disease risk, at least under natural conditions.
Beyond keeping warm, hot spring baths subtly shape snow monkeys’ health. It shows how everyday behaviors can influence microbes and parasites. Image via Eliot Herman. Used with permission.
Snow monkeys as social spa users
Snow monkeys live in large family groups and are the only wild primates known to use hot springs regularly. At Jigokudani, these monkeys walk through deep snow to enter pools that can reach nearly 104° F (40° C). Because it can drop below freezing in winter, the hot springs are a toasty treat. As Langgeng said:
Hot spring bathing is one of the most unusual behaviors seen in nonhuman primates.
The habit is learned socially rather than instinctive. Observations show young monkeys often mimic older group members, particularly their mothers. Furthermore, participation varies with age, sex and social rank. Adult females and juveniles tend to bathe more often. Meanwhile, adult males and lower-ranking monkeys bathe less frequently or remain on dry ground. Because the hot springs are limited in size, dominant individuals may spend more time soaking, while others wait their turn or avoid the pools.
Snow monkeys are the only wild primates to soak regularly in hot springs. They brave freezing winters in steamy pools. Image via Eliot Herman. Used with permission.
How the hot spring baths began
The tradition of bathing in hot springs began in the early 1960s, when a young monkey at Korakukan, a traditional inn in the Jigokudani Valley, reached into an outdoor bath, likely drawn by food dropped into the water. Other monkeys began entering the hot springs to follow the example of human guests and soon realized the warm water was very comfortable in the freezing winter conditions. Gradually, more monkeys joined in, creating a social norm within the troop. Consequently, the behavior became so consistent that in 1964 a dedicated hot spring pool was built for the monkeys. Of course today this area is known as Jigokudani Monkey Park.
Snow monkeys learn to bathe socially. Young monkeys copy elders, and dominant individuals soak the most. Image via Eliot Herman. Used with permission.
How snow monkeys avoid getting cold
Do snow monkeys feel cold after their bath? We have towels and hairdryers, but they don’t! Well, unlike humans, who sweat to regulate temperature and lose heat rapidly when exposed to cold, snow monkeys have relatively few sweat glands and do not rely on sweating. This means they do not experience sudden drops in body temperature after leaving the hot springs.
Their thick winter fur provides excellent insulation. Moreover, their bodies are adapted to extreme cold. Capillary vessels at the ends of their limbs constrict in low temperatures, reducing heat loss from hands and feet. These adaptations allow snow monkeys to step onto snow with bare feet or leave the hot springs without risk of frostbite or sudden chilling.
Snow monkeys can step straight from steaming hot springs onto snow. Their fur and body adaptations keep them perfectly cozy in freezing temperatures. Image via Eliot Herman. Used with permission.
A healthy, steamy dip
So while humans debate the benefits of hot baths and spa days, snow monkeys seem to have figured it out. For them, a soak in a hot spring is not just a way to stay warm. It’s part of a lifestyle that shapes their health, one steamy dip at a time.
When life gives you hot springs … soak like a snow monkey! Image via Eliot Herman. Used with permission.
Special thanks to our friend Eliot Herman, who captured all these amazing images and happily shared them with us. Visit his Flickr page here.
Bottom line: Snow monkeys stay warm in hot spring baths. These baths also affect their parasites and gut microbes. It’s a cozy way to get a health benefit!
Ryan Gosling stars in Project Hail Mary. The movie is an adaptation of the book by Andy Weir. An astrophysicist breaks down the hard science in the movie, here. Image via IMDB.
The movie “Project Hail Mary” stars Ryan Gosling as a reluctant astronaut on a mission to save Earth. An astrophysicist describes how the movie accurately reflects known science.
The movie depicts time dilation accurately. This is how an astronaut traveling in space experiences less time passing than people back on Earth.
The depiction of planets around neighboring stars is also accurate. We’ve already found some 6,100 exoplanets. And some of them could have conditions for life to evolve.
As an astrophysicist, my world revolves around the wonders of space and the mysteries of the universe. This means I can be a tough critic of science fiction books and films that explore these topics.
But when I walked out of a recent preview screening of the film adaptation of Andy Weir’s 2021 science fiction novel Project Hail Mary, I had tears of joy in my eyes. The filmmakers had done justice not just to the original story, but also to the science at the heart of it.
The story revolves around Ryland Grace, played by Ryan Gosling, who awakes from a coma with no memory and no idea why he’s on a space ship 11.9 light-years away from Earth. As his memories slowly start to return, the truth becomes clear. The sun is dying, and he is our only saving grace.
So here are the science facts – as well as the science fiction – of the film, which is in cinemas now.
A dying sun
In “Project Hail Mary” the sun is dying due to an alien organism that has spread around our part of the Milky Way.
Firstly, could an organism spread from one solar system to another? According to some scientists, yes. It’s a theory called panspermia.
We have no hard evidence to prove it right now. But the theory isn’t completely wild. We know material from solar systems can be transported great distances – we ourselves have witnessed as least three interstellar visitors enter and fly through our solar system.
If life forms could survive the harshness of space and live on such rocky bodies, it’s possible this is how life could spread. But that life would likely be basic organisms.
As for the organism at the center of this movie, “astrophage,” its mechanics and behavior sit rightly in the wonderful world of science fiction.
The size of space
The idea of humans traveling between stars feels like an almost impossible challenge.
In our galaxy alone there are more than 400 billion stars, but only roughly 100 of them are within 20 light-years of Earth.
“Project Hail Mary” focuses its attention on one of those systems, known as Tau Ceti, sitting 11.9 light-years away.
If we were to travel to this star with the fastest spacecraft humans have ever flown in, the Apollo 10 module, traveling at more than 39,900 kilometers per hour (25,000 mph), it would take us 320,000 years. In a story where the sun is dying now, there is no time for that. So how does “Project Hail Mary” overcome this problem?
Special relativity is one of the most paradigm-shifting theories of modern history. Developed by Albert Einstein in 1905, it equated mass and energy as one and the same. It is best known by the famous E = mc2 formula.
What Einstein was able to work out mathematically, and we’ve later proved observationally, is that the closer to the speed of light something travels, the slower the time it experiences in its reference frame.
It’s called a Lorentz transformation, and it allows us to determine the time experienced in a reference frame different to our own, say traveling close to the speed of light.
The movie doesn’t give a full physics lesson on this, but rather uses visual cues, including correct mathematics worked out by Grace on a whiteboard to demonstrate this time change.
What Grace determines is that he’s only been in a coma for four years due to the effects of time dilation on a ship traveling that fast, which is scientifically spot on.
We have to talk about the aliens
While on the mission to save our world, Grace meets another being trying to do the same – Rocky.
We (us astronomers at least) do believe aliens exist somewhere in the universe. This belief isn’t based on crop circles or UFOs; it’s based on statistical chances.
In the Milky Way alone we estimate there are at least 100 billion planets. If life was able to form, evolve and thrive on Earth, there are many reasons why astronomers believe that could be true in other systems.
A lot of our confidence relates to the essential building blocks of life as we know it. All life on Earth is carbon based. But if we break down our existence even more, we find one thing: amino acids. These organic compounds are the foundation of our DNA.
What’s most exciting is that we’ve identified these in space. Samples from asteroids and fallen meteorites have confirmed many of the amino acids needed for life on Earth also exist on other objects in our solar system.
Alien Earths beyond our own
The film allows audiences to see what other planets might look like.
When Andy Weir originally wrote this novel, it was scientific consensus that alien worlds likely existed around Tau Ceti and the home planet of our new friend Rocky, 40 Eridani A.
But in recent years science has progressed and new data suggests both of these systems appear to have had false detections of planets.
So at least for now, Rocky’s home doesn’t exist – but thousands of others do. As of March 2026 astronomers have confirmed 6,100 exoplanets. These are worlds that exist beyond our own solar system, around distant stars, and can be either rocky or gaseous.
One place Grace and Rocky need to explore on their adventure to save the stars is a theoretical planet orbiting Tau Ceti. Here we see stunning hues of green and red, and distinctive swirls of gases mixing in the atmosphere.
It’s reminiscent of the gas giant of our own solar system, Jupiter.
Project Hail Mary is more than just an epic adventure film with beautiful visuals. It’s a story that reminds us how important our world is, and how vital science is to our continued existence on it.
Bottom line: The movie “Project Hail Mary” stars Ryan Gosling as a reluctant astronaut on a mission to save Earth. Here’s the science that the movie gets right.
Ryan Gosling stars in Project Hail Mary. The movie is an adaptation of the book by Andy Weir. An astrophysicist breaks down the hard science in the movie, here. Image via IMDB.
The movie “Project Hail Mary” stars Ryan Gosling as a reluctant astronaut on a mission to save Earth. An astrophysicist describes how the movie accurately reflects known science.
The movie depicts time dilation accurately. This is how an astronaut traveling in space experiences less time passing than people back on Earth.
The depiction of planets around neighboring stars is also accurate. We’ve already found some 6,100 exoplanets. And some of them could have conditions for life to evolve.
As an astrophysicist, my world revolves around the wonders of space and the mysteries of the universe. This means I can be a tough critic of science fiction books and films that explore these topics.
But when I walked out of a recent preview screening of the film adaptation of Andy Weir’s 2021 science fiction novel Project Hail Mary, I had tears of joy in my eyes. The filmmakers had done justice not just to the original story, but also to the science at the heart of it.
The story revolves around Ryland Grace, played by Ryan Gosling, who awakes from a coma with no memory and no idea why he’s on a space ship 11.9 light-years away from Earth. As his memories slowly start to return, the truth becomes clear. The sun is dying, and he is our only saving grace.
So here are the science facts – as well as the science fiction – of the film, which is in cinemas now.
A dying sun
In “Project Hail Mary” the sun is dying due to an alien organism that has spread around our part of the Milky Way.
Firstly, could an organism spread from one solar system to another? According to some scientists, yes. It’s a theory called panspermia.
We have no hard evidence to prove it right now. But the theory isn’t completely wild. We know material from solar systems can be transported great distances – we ourselves have witnessed as least three interstellar visitors enter and fly through our solar system.
If life forms could survive the harshness of space and live on such rocky bodies, it’s possible this is how life could spread. But that life would likely be basic organisms.
As for the organism at the center of this movie, “astrophage,” its mechanics and behavior sit rightly in the wonderful world of science fiction.
The size of space
The idea of humans traveling between stars feels like an almost impossible challenge.
In our galaxy alone there are more than 400 billion stars, but only roughly 100 of them are within 20 light-years of Earth.
“Project Hail Mary” focuses its attention on one of those systems, known as Tau Ceti, sitting 11.9 light-years away.
If we were to travel to this star with the fastest spacecraft humans have ever flown in, the Apollo 10 module, traveling at more than 39,900 kilometers per hour (25,000 mph), it would take us 320,000 years. In a story where the sun is dying now, there is no time for that. So how does “Project Hail Mary” overcome this problem?
Special relativity is one of the most paradigm-shifting theories of modern history. Developed by Albert Einstein in 1905, it equated mass and energy as one and the same. It is best known by the famous E = mc2 formula.
What Einstein was able to work out mathematically, and we’ve later proved observationally, is that the closer to the speed of light something travels, the slower the time it experiences in its reference frame.
It’s called a Lorentz transformation, and it allows us to determine the time experienced in a reference frame different to our own, say traveling close to the speed of light.
The movie doesn’t give a full physics lesson on this, but rather uses visual cues, including correct mathematics worked out by Grace on a whiteboard to demonstrate this time change.
What Grace determines is that he’s only been in a coma for four years due to the effects of time dilation on a ship traveling that fast, which is scientifically spot on.
We have to talk about the aliens
While on the mission to save our world, Grace meets another being trying to do the same – Rocky.
We (us astronomers at least) do believe aliens exist somewhere in the universe. This belief isn’t based on crop circles or UFOs; it’s based on statistical chances.
In the Milky Way alone we estimate there are at least 100 billion planets. If life was able to form, evolve and thrive on Earth, there are many reasons why astronomers believe that could be true in other systems.
A lot of our confidence relates to the essential building blocks of life as we know it. All life on Earth is carbon based. But if we break down our existence even more, we find one thing: amino acids. These organic compounds are the foundation of our DNA.
What’s most exciting is that we’ve identified these in space. Samples from asteroids and fallen meteorites have confirmed many of the amino acids needed for life on Earth also exist on other objects in our solar system.
Alien Earths beyond our own
The film allows audiences to see what other planets might look like.
When Andy Weir originally wrote this novel, it was scientific consensus that alien worlds likely existed around Tau Ceti and the home planet of our new friend Rocky, 40 Eridani A.
But in recent years science has progressed and new data suggests both of these systems appear to have had false detections of planets.
So at least for now, Rocky’s home doesn’t exist – but thousands of others do. As of March 2026 astronomers have confirmed 6,100 exoplanets. These are worlds that exist beyond our own solar system, around distant stars, and can be either rocky or gaseous.
One place Grace and Rocky need to explore on their adventure to save the stars is a theoretical planet orbiting Tau Ceti. Here we see stunning hues of green and red, and distinctive swirls of gases mixing in the atmosphere.
It’s reminiscent of the gas giant of our own solar system, Jupiter.
Project Hail Mary is more than just an epic adventure film with beautiful visuals. It’s a story that reminds us how important our world is, and how vital science is to our continued existence on it.
Bottom line: The movie “Project Hail Mary” stars Ryan Gosling as a reluctant astronaut on a mission to save Earth. Here’s the science that the movie gets right.
The Spring Triangle is an asterism – a noticeable sky pattern – with 3 bright stars at its corners. The stars are Arcturus, Spica and Regulus. All 3 stars are in different constellations. Image via EarthSky.
The Spring Triangle heralds warmer weather
Around the time of the March equinox, a trio of stars rises in the east after dark. You can notice this pattern if you look for it. The Spring Triangle announces the slide into shorter nights and warmer weather for the Northern Hemisphere. The pattern consists of three stars in three separate constellations. The stars are Regulus in Leo the Lion, Arcturus in Boötes the Herdsman and – last to rise above the March horizon – Spica in Virgo the Maiden.
These three bright stars create a narrow pyramid stretching up from the horizon.
The Spring Triangle is entirely above the horizon before midnight in March. And by early April, all three stars are visible by mid-evening (midway between sundown and midnight).
Once you come to know it, when you see the Spring Triangle stars are up, you can almost feel the warm springtime air.
The Spring Triangle is an asterism
Like the sky’s other seasonal shapes (for instance, the Summer Triangle and Winter Circle or Hexagon), the Spring Triangle isn’t a constellation. It’s not one of the 88 regions of the sky officially recognized as constellations by the International Astronomical Union.
Instead, it’s an asterism, an unofficial but recognizable pattern of stars that can be in one constellation or in multiple constellations. Asterisms are what many of us would pick out as constellations, if we didn’t know any constellations. That’s because they’re often the sky’s most recognizable patterns.
Let’s look at how to find these stars so we can watch them move across the night sky.
Leo the Lion’s brightest star is Regulus. It’s the dot at the bottom of the backward question mark known as the Sickle. Chart via EarthSky.
Regulus
As soon as it’s dark around the March equinox, look for a bright yellowish star twinkling above the eastern horizon. That’s Regulus, and it’s easy to confirm if you’ve spotted the right star. If the star you’re targeting marks the period in a backward question mark pattern of stars, you’ve got it. This question mark shape is another asterism known as the Sickle in Leo. The curve of the question mark traces the head of the lion and Regulus is the Lion’s Heart.
When we look at Regulus, we only see one star, but it’s actually a four-star system. From about 79 light-years away, the light from the four stars makes one point of light in the night sky. The brightest star in this system is a yellow supergiant about four times the size of our sun.
Arcturus and its constellation Boötes the Herdsman. Boötes has the shape of a kite. Arcturus is at the point where you’d attach a tail. You can see it on spring evenings in the Northern Hemisphere. Chart via EarthSky.
Arcturus
Next up is Arcturus, the brightest star of the three in the Spring Triangle. For those at northerly latitudes, Arcturus is the second-brightest star visible on the sky’s dome, after Sirius, which is currently in the southwestern sky. (Those at more southerly latitudes, like the southern U.S., can see the sky’s actual second-brightest star, Canopus, in the south.) Arcturus is a gorgeous old red giant about 37 light-years away. Billions of years in the future, when the sun has burned up its own hydrogen fuel supply, it will turn into a star like the type Arcturus is now.
The constellation Virgo the Maiden is easy to find using the Big Dipper and arcing to Arcturus in Boötes, then speeding on down toward Spica, Virgo’s brightest star. Image via the International Astronomical Union (IAU).
Spica
If Arcturus has risen, Spica is not far behind. Look for Spica lower in the sky than Arcturus – and father toward the south, or right – of the others. From a distance of 250 light-years away, Spica appears to us on Earth to be a lone bluish-white star in a quiet region of the sky. But Spica consists of two stars and maybe more. The pair are both larger and hotter than our sun, and they’re separated by only 11 million miles (less than 18 million km). They orbit their common center of gravity in only four days.
A triangle inside the triangle
If you can spot the Spring Triangle, you may notice there’s a second triangle inside the larger triangle. The smaller triangle excludes Regulus but includes yellowish Denebola, a double star about 36 light-years away that marks the Lion’s tail. Denebola is the second brightest star in Leo. To see this second triangle, look at the chart below.
The Small Spring Triangle includes Denebola instead of Regulus. Image via EarthSky.
The Spring Triangle is less attention-grabbing than the Winter Circle (or Hexagon) and the Summer Triangle. If you’re having trouble finding it, there’s another way. Use the Big Dipper for extra help.
Finding the Spring Triangle
Toward the north, look for the Big Dipper, called the Plough in the United Kingdom. This time of year, by mid-evening, it’s ascending in the northeast. If you draw a line from the two stars at the end of the Dipper’s bowl or blade – Dubhe and Merak – and extend it toward the south, you’ll reach Regulus.
Then, follow the curve of the Dipper’s handle away from the bowl to arc to Arcturus and continue the line downward to speed on down to Spica.
Surprisingly enough, the Spring Triangle is bigger than its more famous summertime cousin, and it’s almost as big across as the Winter Hexagon. Yet it’s not one of the best-known star patterns.
Once you’ve found the Spring Triangle, you’ll enjoy it year after year. Maybe because it appears as spring arrives, this pattern seems full of optimism for good things to come!
Find the Spring Triangle using the Big Dipper as a guide. Image via EarthSky.
And it covers a large area of the sky
As you can tell from this allsky image of the night sky, the Spring Triangle covers a large area of the sky. Image via WyoAstro allsky camera. Used with permission.
Bottom Line: Look for a sign of the changing seasons in the heavens as the Spring Triangle – made up of the bright stars Regulus, Arcturus and Spica – rises above the horizon in the east over the next couple of months.
The Spring Triangle is an asterism – a noticeable sky pattern – with 3 bright stars at its corners. The stars are Arcturus, Spica and Regulus. All 3 stars are in different constellations. Image via EarthSky.
The Spring Triangle heralds warmer weather
Around the time of the March equinox, a trio of stars rises in the east after dark. You can notice this pattern if you look for it. The Spring Triangle announces the slide into shorter nights and warmer weather for the Northern Hemisphere. The pattern consists of three stars in three separate constellations. The stars are Regulus in Leo the Lion, Arcturus in Boötes the Herdsman and – last to rise above the March horizon – Spica in Virgo the Maiden.
These three bright stars create a narrow pyramid stretching up from the horizon.
The Spring Triangle is entirely above the horizon before midnight in March. And by early April, all three stars are visible by mid-evening (midway between sundown and midnight).
Once you come to know it, when you see the Spring Triangle stars are up, you can almost feel the warm springtime air.
The Spring Triangle is an asterism
Like the sky’s other seasonal shapes (for instance, the Summer Triangle and Winter Circle or Hexagon), the Spring Triangle isn’t a constellation. It’s not one of the 88 regions of the sky officially recognized as constellations by the International Astronomical Union.
Instead, it’s an asterism, an unofficial but recognizable pattern of stars that can be in one constellation or in multiple constellations. Asterisms are what many of us would pick out as constellations, if we didn’t know any constellations. That’s because they’re often the sky’s most recognizable patterns.
Let’s look at how to find these stars so we can watch them move across the night sky.
Leo the Lion’s brightest star is Regulus. It’s the dot at the bottom of the backward question mark known as the Sickle. Chart via EarthSky.
Regulus
As soon as it’s dark around the March equinox, look for a bright yellowish star twinkling above the eastern horizon. That’s Regulus, and it’s easy to confirm if you’ve spotted the right star. If the star you’re targeting marks the period in a backward question mark pattern of stars, you’ve got it. This question mark shape is another asterism known as the Sickle in Leo. The curve of the question mark traces the head of the lion and Regulus is the Lion’s Heart.
When we look at Regulus, we only see one star, but it’s actually a four-star system. From about 79 light-years away, the light from the four stars makes one point of light in the night sky. The brightest star in this system is a yellow supergiant about four times the size of our sun.
Arcturus and its constellation Boötes the Herdsman. Boötes has the shape of a kite. Arcturus is at the point where you’d attach a tail. You can see it on spring evenings in the Northern Hemisphere. Chart via EarthSky.
Arcturus
Next up is Arcturus, the brightest star of the three in the Spring Triangle. For those at northerly latitudes, Arcturus is the second-brightest star visible on the sky’s dome, after Sirius, which is currently in the southwestern sky. (Those at more southerly latitudes, like the southern U.S., can see the sky’s actual second-brightest star, Canopus, in the south.) Arcturus is a gorgeous old red giant about 37 light-years away. Billions of years in the future, when the sun has burned up its own hydrogen fuel supply, it will turn into a star like the type Arcturus is now.
The constellation Virgo the Maiden is easy to find using the Big Dipper and arcing to Arcturus in Boötes, then speeding on down toward Spica, Virgo’s brightest star. Image via the International Astronomical Union (IAU).
Spica
If Arcturus has risen, Spica is not far behind. Look for Spica lower in the sky than Arcturus – and father toward the south, or right – of the others. From a distance of 250 light-years away, Spica appears to us on Earth to be a lone bluish-white star in a quiet region of the sky. But Spica consists of two stars and maybe more. The pair are both larger and hotter than our sun, and they’re separated by only 11 million miles (less than 18 million km). They orbit their common center of gravity in only four days.
A triangle inside the triangle
If you can spot the Spring Triangle, you may notice there’s a second triangle inside the larger triangle. The smaller triangle excludes Regulus but includes yellowish Denebola, a double star about 36 light-years away that marks the Lion’s tail. Denebola is the second brightest star in Leo. To see this second triangle, look at the chart below.
The Small Spring Triangle includes Denebola instead of Regulus. Image via EarthSky.
The Spring Triangle is less attention-grabbing than the Winter Circle (or Hexagon) and the Summer Triangle. If you’re having trouble finding it, there’s another way. Use the Big Dipper for extra help.
Finding the Spring Triangle
Toward the north, look for the Big Dipper, called the Plough in the United Kingdom. This time of year, by mid-evening, it’s ascending in the northeast. If you draw a line from the two stars at the end of the Dipper’s bowl or blade – Dubhe and Merak – and extend it toward the south, you’ll reach Regulus.
Then, follow the curve of the Dipper’s handle away from the bowl to arc to Arcturus and continue the line downward to speed on down to Spica.
Surprisingly enough, the Spring Triangle is bigger than its more famous summertime cousin, and it’s almost as big across as the Winter Hexagon. Yet it’s not one of the best-known star patterns.
Once you’ve found the Spring Triangle, you’ll enjoy it year after year. Maybe because it appears as spring arrives, this pattern seems full of optimism for good things to come!
Find the Spring Triangle using the Big Dipper as a guide. Image via EarthSky.
And it covers a large area of the sky
As you can tell from this allsky image of the night sky, the Spring Triangle covers a large area of the sky. Image via WyoAstro allsky camera. Used with permission.
Bottom Line: Look for a sign of the changing seasons in the heavens as the Spring Triangle – made up of the bright stars Regulus, Arcturus and Spica – rises above the horizon in the east over the next couple of months.
