The Mystery of the Christmas Star
December 2016 :
Perhaps the mystery of the Christmas Star will never be solved to everyone’s satisfaction. As a young boy I was introduced to the biblical account of the event—“Behold there came 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.
Many folks “faith”-fully believe that divine intervention led the Magi to Jerusalem. But as my interest in astronomy grew, I began to wonder if the star was a real astronomical event. So began my detective work as an amateur astronomer to research what had already been written about the subject.
Through the course of my investigation I have come across some contradictions between the biblical and historical records. One must take into account the various methods in which people tracked time and compare them to find common historical references. Another important exercise is to translate the written word carefully from so many centuries ago.
For instance, it is said the Magi “followed” the star. How could that be? It depends upon its usage. I may follow a map, follow a movie or a conversation, or follow my conscious. None of those usages implies that I am literally traipsing after the above items. Regardless, I think it is scientifically prudent to recount some of the natural events proposed for the Christmas Star’s origin.
First and foremost we have to understand the mindset of that time frame. Astrology ruled the land. Astrologers, and specifically the Magi who were most likely Persian or Babylonian priest astrologers, “followed” or charted the stars because they, as well as the populace, believed sky happenings had a direct effect upon humankind. These events, if read correctly, could inform them
of what was happening or what could happen. It was like a cosmic news bulletin, and the Magi were waiting for the big story to break!
That big story was foretold in a prophecy that the King of the Jews (the Promised One or Messiah) would be born in Bethlehem, and in Jewish tradition that a sign would appear two years before his birth.
While I do not personally believe in astrology, astronomers do owe a debt of gratitude to the early astrologer stargazers. Though they did not know the true layout of the solar system and our place in the universe, they were still very careful observers of sky events, since their knowledge and interpretation of those events had significant consequences for the people of the time.
Some scholars have recently wondered if an actual “visual” event occurred at all. Perhaps the Magi “saw his star in the east” in astrological charts only. The supporting evidence for this theory is that no other contemporary observers reported any unusually bright object in the heavens. This includes King Herod and the people of Judea, especially those residing in Jerusalem and Bethlehem.
However, it is this writer’s belief that some astronomical event did occur in the sky, and the Magi did interpret its astrological significance relative to prophecy.
Several ideas have been proposed over the years to identify the source for the Star of Bethlehem’s appearance. Due to historical references we can narrow our search to the years between 7 and 4 BCE. Some theories have consistently held up under careful scrutiny, while others have since been discarded.
For example, a very bright and exploding meteor, called a fireball, has been suggested. However, meteors, even exceedingly bright ones, are very short-lived. If an observer is not looking precisely at the moment of atmospheric entry it will be missed. Add in the fact that bright meteors are not a rare occurrence, and then mix in the probability for clouds, then attaching some great astrological significance to a meteor seems pointless.
In addition, a nova or supernova explosion of a star has also been proposed. 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.
The one theory that had 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 BCE, somewhat too early to be considered. Until a few years ago there were no other accounts of any bright comets during the time with which we’re concerned. However, ancient Chinese and Korean texts have recently revealed a bright comet in 5 BCE.
However, and most importantly, throughout history comets have always been seen as bad omens, not good ones. So I concur with other researchers that the comet connection should no longer be supported. But three other possible explanations tie things together much more nicely, especially when you consider the astrological influences of the time.
When I first started my research I would simply summarize what other astronomers had discovered. There were some great books and some not so great books. I have provided a brief bibliography (without prejudice) at the end of this column.
For several hundred years we have known the positions of stars and the orbits of the planets to a great degree of accuracy. During modern times planetariums could be used to step back (or forward) in time to accurately present the sky as it truly looked many centuries ago or will look like many centuries hence.
Now, with sophisticated software and a home computer one can recreate the sky as it looked in the past from anywhere on the Earth’s surface. This tool has been used by many researchers in the search for the Christmas Star.
My first attempt to recreate the skies at the time of Herod the Great was accomplished more than a decade ago using The Sky IV, and then later The Sky VI software, to verify various researcher’s findings. More recently I used Starry Night Pro. My observations and conclusions follow.
While most portrayals of the birth of Jesus show a single star, we do not necessarily have to limit our investigation to that interpretation. Why? The word star during those days was used to describe a star, planet or any object in the sky. You’ll see why word usage and interpretation is an important factor in trying to solve the Christmas Star mystery.
I started my inquiry by setting the sky clock in my software back to 7 BCE, as well as selecting a very specific location, Jerusalem. During that year, the planets Jupiter and Saturn had three close encounters, called conjunctions. The first occurred in March, 7 BCE, when there was a heliacal rising of Jupiter and Saturn, meaning they rose about the same time the sun did. Then the second conjunction occurred in September. 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.
The third and closest conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn occurred during December 7 BCE, when the planets were two full moon diameters apart from each other. Though they did not appear as one bright object, as many usually interpret the appearance of the Christmas Star, this trio of conjunctions had great astrological significance. And as I have already pointed out, the word star did not necessarily refer to one single object.
Also significant was that this triple conjunction occurred with two of the three close approaches occurring within the constellation of Pisces (the first one in March occurred with Saturn just over the border into neighboring constellation Cetus), the sign of the Hebrews, and in the Jewish tradition the sign of Israel according to some references. 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.
Could the above astronomical events have prompted the Magi to begin their trek? Perhaps, but according to one researcher, another more important astronomical/astrological event occurred on April 17, 6 BCE. There was a heliacal rising of Jupiter in the constellation of Aries at the same time Jupiter was occulted (eclipsed) by the Moon. That author believes that Aries, instead of Pisces, was the astrological sign of the Jews, and this occultation took place in that constellation. The astrological convergence pointed to the birth of the king of the Jews.
It’s hard to know what to accept as astrological fact. One source encountered during my research stated that Pisces was the astrological sign of the Jews, while another stated that Aries was. I’m not a religious scholar, so I’m hoping a reader of this article will shed some light on this subject.
In addition, while my software does show an occultation of Jupiter by the Moon a couple of hours after sunrise on April 17, 6 BCE, it occurred fairly close to the Sun in daylight hours, but not in the skies above Jerusalem or Bethlehem. It did occur a couple hundred miles north. From those two towns even the extremely close conjunction of Jupiter and the Moon would not have been viewable. Still, perhaps the Magi “saw” this event in their charts and the astrological implications were compelling to the Magi for them to start their journey.
Later in February of 6 BCE, the planet Mars joined Jupiter and Saturn for a triple conjunction. Also significant was that this conjunction occurred in the constellation of Pisces, which would be astrologically significant only if Pisces was truly the sign of the Hebrews.
While planetary conjunctions occur frequently, the coincidences of all the circumstances are quite significant when you take into consideration the astrologer Magi were waiting for a specific sign whose interpretation would have announced 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 despite Jupiter and Saturn not appearing as one bright object, the astronomical events occurring during the years 7 or 6 BCE may account for the “appearance” of the Christmas Star.
Unless some new historical documents are uncovered, we may never know precisely what transpired in the Middle East more than two thousand years ago. In fact, while conducting further research to update this article with any new revelations, I noted that the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, published in 1989, did provide a new translation for Matthew 2:1-2. In part it now reads, “For we have observed his star at its rising.” Now that’s what I’m talking about.
If a real astronomical event was observed in the sky in the distant past, 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 travel back in time to recreate the skies of history. At least the skies on my computer are always clear ones!
In conclusion, one may wonder why Christmas is celebrated on December 25th. When Julius Caesar developed his Julian calendar in 46 BCE, he established December 25 as the Winter Solstice. 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 (from the 17th through the 24th). Also, pagan Romans celebrated another holiday festival even more grand than Saturnalia on the 25th, and a secret cult also held another celebration. The Christians decided to hold their religious observance at the same time to escape persecution. The 25th of December was chosen, and in 313 CE when Emperor Constantine accepted Christianity for himself and his kingdom, he retained that date for the celebration of Christmas.
Happy Holidays to you all and keep your eyes to the skies!
This graphic, using Starry Night Pro planetarium software, shows one possible explanation for the Christmas Star. See text for explanation.
Brief Bibliography
Boa, Ben & Proctor, William, The Return of the Star of Bethlehem, Zondervan Books, 1985
Hughes, David, The Star of Bethlehem: An Astronomer’s Confirmation, Walker and Company, 1979
McDonald, Donald, Star of the Magi, The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, 1968
Molnar, Michael R., The Star of Bethlehem: The Legacy of the Magi, Rutgers University Press, 1999
