Longtaitou: The astronomical side of Dragon Head-raising Day

In China, the second day of the second lunar month marks the day of "Longtaitou," or "dragon raises its head." This year, the traditional Chinese festival falls on Monday.

Since ancient times, people have regarded this day as an important occasion to pray for good fortune, bountiful harvest and warding off calamity.

It is believed that this day originated from practices involving celestial worship and observation, which was used in ancient China to determine farming time. In this context, the Dragon Head-raising Day was one of the seasonal celestial phenomena.

In early spring, the first of the 28 lunar mansions in traditional Chinese astrology – similar to the zodiacal constellations in Western astronomy, rises from the eastern horizon, just like a dragon raising its head.

People usually celebrate the day in various ways, such as getting a new haircut, performing a dragon dance, going for a spring outing and having traditional food.

Dishes eaten on this day also gets auspicious names: dumplings become "dragon's ears," rice become "dragon's roes" and wontons are "dragon's eyes." Eating noodles is likened to "holding the dragon's whiskers," and pancakes are made with scale-like patterns and called "dragon's scales."

Other celestial events in March

March 13 to 15: Uranus will be visible after sunset. A crescent moon will join Uranus and Jupiter during the period.

March 22: Venus and Saturn will have an extremely close encounter in the eastern sky. Venus shines at magnitude -3.8 and Saturn is magnitude -1.1. The lower the magnitude number is, the brighter the object will be. You'll need to spot Venus first and then look for Saturn at the right bottom.

March 25: Mercury will sit above the western horizon after sundown, shining at magnitude -0.2.