A new study has found that the Bogong moth from Australia uses stars to travel. This insect flies at night and moves every year when the weather gets hot. The moth travels about 1,000 kilometers to cold caves in the Australian Alps. After some time, it flies back to the place where it started to have babies. This is the first time scientists have shown that an insect can use stars to travel far. The study was published in a science magazine called Nature.

Scientists studied the moths using a machine that shows a night sky. They turned off the Earth’s magnetic field to see only how the moths use the stars. When the stars in the machine looked like the real night sky, the moths flew correctly. But when the stars were mixed up, the moths got confused. Scientists also looked at the moths’ brains and saw that the moths reacted to some star patterns. Scientists are not sure which stars help the moths, but they think big star groups like the Milky Way may help. This study shows that even small insects can travel long distances by using signs from nature.