The Christmas Star
What was the Star of Bethlehem? Many people regard the event described by Matthew as having been a miracle, requiring no further explanation. At the opposite end of the spectrum are those who believe that it is a legend and never existed at all. The first attempt at a rational explanation appears to have been put forward by the German astronomer and astrologer Johannes Kepler in the early 17th century.
Kepler, on observing a nova (exploding star) which was visible in 1604, advanced the view that the Star of Bethlehem may have been a nova occurring near a bright planet or planets in conjunction (in proximity as seen from the earth). While novas (novae) and comets are transient phenomena which can be historically documented only by observers present at the time (only a few comets, such as Halley's, have a known periodicity), planetary conjunctions can be traced backward into the past by calculations based on celestial mechanics.
Several striking planetary conjunctions actually did take place within ten years of the chronological point now taken as the beginning of the Christian era. The year of Jesus' birth is uncertain, but is thought to lie between 4 and 6 BC. A triple conjunction in early 6 BC, in which Mars, Jupiter and Saturn stood at the points of a triangle with sides several degrees long, has often been mentioned as a possible explanation for the star (for comparison, the angular diameter of the moon is about 1/2 degree). Prior to that, for eight months in 7 BC, Jupiter and Saturn were within three degrees of each other. Several years later, on June 17, 2 BC, the bright planets Venus and Jupiter would have appeared to observers in Babylon to have merged just before setting in the general direction of Bethlehem to the west.
Other natural events which might have been considered important omens and described as stars include Halley's comet, which was visible in 11 and 12 BC. In 1729, a Jesuit missionary, J.F. Focquet, followed Kepler's lead when he concluded from the translation of early Chinese astronomical calendars that the star may have been one of two novas recorded in 4 and 5 BC. Korean records also list these events, but it is doubtful that they were exceptionally bright, or even noticed by most people (oriental astronomers were meticulous in recording minor details). It is not even certain from the translations whether they were comets or novas. In any case, it must be reasoned that it would have been impossible for one of these or any other known natural celestial phenomenon to have "gone before the Magi and halted over the place where the young child was," as Matthew wrote. To have done so would have violated any of a number of basic natural laws.
In cases such as this, it is probably best for reason to bow to the inexplicable. Myth or reality, Aden and Margorie Meinel place the matter in perspective in their book Sunsets, Twilights, and Evening Skies:
"Each Christmas season the media turn renewed attention to the Christmas Star. What was it? Did one of these celestial visitors herald the birth of Christ? Was this biblical event a temporary star, a conjunction of planets, or an expression of what lay deep in the hearts of the early disciples as they wrote about the drama of events in their youth when.they walked the dusty roads of the land of the patriarchs with Jesus? A new star had arisen in the House of David and had shone over the place where Jesus lay. Why do we still wonder about the meaning of that star and search in vain for a physical remnant to prove or disprove what was never meant to engage our minds outside the spiritual domain? The celestial visitor at that first Christmas was for our hearts, not for our telescopes."
