Bethlehem, Star of

▪ celestial phenomenon

      celestial phenomenon mentioned in the Gospel According to Matthew as leading “wise men from the East” to the birthplace of Jesus Christ. Natural events that might well have been considered important omens and described as stars include exploding stars (novae and supernovae), comets ( Halley's Comet was visible in 12 and 11 BC), meteors, and planetary conjunctions—i.e., apparent close approaches of two or more planets to each other.

      The year of Jesus' birth is uncertain but can be narrowed down to probably between 6 and 4 BC. The biblical account indicates two sightings of the star, one before the wise men began their journey (probably from Babylonia or Persia) and the other near their journey's end, when the omen “came and stood over where the young child was.” A celestial object near the horizon of any given observer might be considered by him as pointing out some spot on Earth below.

      Chinese annals record novae (nova) in 5 BC and 4 BC; in the early 17th century, Johannes Kepler (Kepler, Johannes) advanced the view that the Star of Bethlehem may have been a nova occurring in or near some conjunction of bright planets.

      Several striking planetary conjunctions also took place within 10 years of the chronological point now taken as the beginning of the Christian era. A triple conjunction in early 6 BC, in which Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn stood at the points of a triangle, has often been mentioned as a possible explanation of the star. Prior to that, in 7 BC, Jupiter and Saturn were for eight months within three degrees of each other and three times within that period passed within one degree. 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.

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