What do you know about the 'Star of Bethlehem' that was mentioned in the New Testament of the Holy Bible?

You may know a Christmas story that talks about the star of Bethelehem. That story was first told in the Bible a long time ago. Here it says, "In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, 'Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star rising, and have come to pay him homage'."

Around this time of year, many people wonder about that star mentioned long ago. What's the astronomy behind the star?

Some think it was a nova (an exploding star). Other people think that the star that was written about in the Bible was actually a comet.

Most likely, the star was a planetary conjunction. A conjunction is when two or more objects appear very close together in the sky. The closer the objects, the brighter the conjunction. The conjunction of Jupiter with star Regulus happened around the time Jesus was born.

Some people would say that the star was not any one astronomical event, but simply the God of the Bible announcing the coming of Jesus.



Submitted by Gene (Florida, USA)
(December 18, 1997)


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