Mystery of the Christmas Star

My topic today concerns a mystery from the past. With Christmas just a few weeks away, I thought I'd revisit the mystery of the Christmas Star. Most people are familiar with the biblical account of the event, particularly of the Magi and their travels to the little town of Bethlehem, led there by a brilliant star in the sky.

"Behold there came three wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and come to worship him..." - Matthew 2:1-2

I'm sure many folks "faith"-fully believe that divine intervention led the Magi to the manger in Jerusalem. But what of the Star of Bethlehem? Can a natural astronomical event account for the appearance of the Christmas Star almost 2000 years ago? Since this event occurred in the sky, who other than astronomers would be the best detectives to unravel this mystery?

Several ideas on the origin of the Star of Bethlehem have been proposed over the years. Due to historical references we can narrow our search to the years between 7 BC to 2 BC. Some theories have consistently held up under careful scrutiny, while others have floundered.

For example, a very bright and exploding meteor, called a fireball, has been suggested. However, even large ones don't persist for days or months, and the Magi followed it for at least that long. A nova or supernova explosion of a star has also been suggested. It would be exceedingly bright, probably even visible during the daytime. Unfortunately for this theory, not even the astronomically observant Chinese recorded any such sky event during the years in question. The same applies to a variable star that periodically increases and decreases its brightness. These theories just don't meet all the criteria. However, there are three theories that do explain the star's appearance quite well, especially when taking into consideration the many astrological coincidences.

Yes, you will indeed note that I mentioned astrology. We must keep astrology in mind when examining the Christmas Star mystery. Why? Simply put, the Magi were astrologers. They were always charting the stars because they, as well as the populace, believed that sky happenings had a direct affect upon earthlings. These events, if read correctly, could inform them of what was happening or what could happen. For the astrologers it was like a cosmic news bulletin, and they were waiting for the big story to break! That big story was foretold in a prophecy that the King of the Jews would be born in Bethlehem, and a in Jewish tradition that a sign would appear two years before his birth.

The one theory that has been tossed around for many years was the Halley's Comet - Christmas Star connection. The one insurmountable problem with this explanation is that Halley appeared during 11 BC, somewhat too early to be considered. Until a few years ago there were no other accounts of any bright comets during the time we're concerned with. However, ancient Chinese and Korean texts have recently revealed a bright comet in 5 BC If this were the only possible explanation I'd say this one would get my support. But two other explanations tie things together much more nicely.

Today we know the positions of stars and the orbits of the planets to a great degree of accuracy. With sophisticated software one can recreate the sky as it looked in the past from anywhere on the Earth's surface, or one can create what the sky will look like hundreds of years hence. This tool has been used in the search for the Christmas Star. In the past I have "faith-fully" reported what other astronomers have discovered. Recently, however, I have recreated the skies of ancient Jerusalem in my home computer and have verified their findings. My observations and conclusions follow.

I started my inquiry by setting the sky clock back to 7 BC as well as selecting a very specific location, Jerusalem. During that year, the planets Jupiter and Saturn had three close encounters, called conjunctions. The closest, during December 7 BC, occurred when the planets were two full moon diameters apart from each other. Unfortunately they did not appear as one bright object, as one must interpret the appearance of the Christmas Star.

Regardless, during March 7 BC there was a heliacal rising of Jupiter and Saturn. They rose about the same time the sun did. This event was astrologically significant. Then in September of the same year, the planets rose acronychal. that is, they rose in the east as the sun set in the west. Astrologically the heliacal rising was thought to signify birth, while the acronychal rising was one of five principal positions the early astrologers, especially the Babylonians, highly regarded.

Later in 6 BC, the planet Mars joined Jupiter and Saturn for a triple conjunction. Also significant was that this conjunction occurred in the constellation of Pisces (the sign of the Hebrews, and in the Jewish tradition the sign of Israel). Pisces, as well as Saturn, was the sign of the promised Messiah. Furthermore, the Jews considered Jupiter to be a royal symbol, and Saturn to be Israel's protector.

These coincidences are quite significant when you take into consideration the astrologer Magi who were waiting for a sign to appear among the stars. Despite Jupiter and Saturn not appearing as one bright object, the astrological coincidences seem to point to the year 7 or 6 BC for the appearance of the Christmas Star. However, a similar event has recently come to light that satisfies almost all the criteria, with one exception.

Beginning in 3 BC there were two conjunctions of Jupiter and Venus. More importantly, there were three conjunctions of Jupiter and the star Regulus in the constellation of Leo that same year. Jupiter and Regulus both meant "king", and Leo was a sign of the tribe of Judah. Later on in 2 BC the planet Jupiter moved into the constellation of Virgo, the virgin, and remained in the abdomen of this figure for a while.

The very observant and astrologically minded Magi would have interpreted this sign as the fulfillment of the prophecy ... the birth of the Jewish king. And since we know shepherds only tended to their flocks in night time during lambing in the spring, then the events in the spring of 3 or 2 BC seem to be a reasonable choice for the explanation of the Christmas Star. The one flaw with this explanation concerns King Herod. While no exact date is know for the king's death, he is believed to have died prior to April, 4 BC.

Unless some new historical documents are uncovered we may never know what transpired in the Middle East two thousand years ago. Whatever was observed in the sky so long ago, I'm sure the dark skies of the day afforded both the Magi and the general populace a splendid view of the heavens. With the sophisticated software available today you too can recreate the skies of history. I used The Sky, version 4, for my travels back in time. At least the skies on my computer are always clear ones!

In conclusion, one may wonder why Christmas is celebrated on December 25th. When the Christians were under the heel of the Roman Empire their religion was declared illegal. They had to worship in private. During this time though, the Romans celebrated the winter solstice with a week- long festival, Saturnalia, centered on December 25. The Christians decided to hold their religious observance at the same time to escape persecution. The 25th of December was chosen, and in 313 AD when Emperor Constantine accepted Christianity for himself and his kingdom, he retained that date and all the traditions we have come to associate with the celebration of Christmas.

Happy Holidays to you all.