Was the “Star of Bethlehem” that led the magicians to the baby Jesus in the Bible the same as the Christmas Star that will be visible on Monday (December 21)?
In other words, will we see what the Wise Men apparently saw 2,000 years ago?
It wouldn’t be crazy to believe that. Jupiter and Saturn will come together on Monday, almost merging in the sky, a phenomenon known as the Great Conjunction that happens about once every 20 years. It is possible that Jupiter and Saturn met three times as they danced in the sky in a period of conjunction close to the birth of Jesus, in the year 7 BC. It is conceivable that that combined light from heaven was recorded as a star, and associated with the birth of Jesus, and thus called the Christmas Star, according to EarthSky. That is why, in fact, the Great Conjunction, as it is more correctly called, is also known as the Christmas Star – due to its connection with the birth of Jesus.
If the biblical account is an indication, it seems that people remembered seeing something bright in the sky then. .
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“Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem … the magicians from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is He who was born King of the Jews?’ (Matthew 2: 1, New American Standard Bible)
“… And, behold, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood where the child was. And when they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshiped him … ”(Matthew 2: 9, New American Standard Bible)
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So, according to the Gospel of Matthew, a bright star in the sky at the time of Jesus’ birth announced its birth. But what was it?
Returning the orbits of the planets to the time of Jesus is quite simple. As Journal of Astronomy reportedly, the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn aligned in 7 BC. so that from Earth they seemed to meet three times in the constellation Pisces – a relatively rare event, first proposed as the true Star of Bethlehem in the 1600s by Johannes Kepler, according to the Conversation. Conformable GODMOTHER, before December 21, 2020, Jupiter and Saturn had not been so close in the sky for 400 years and not at night for almost 800 years. (In the meantime, as previously reported by Live Science, the exact year of Jesus’ birth is uncertain.)
But if the Star of Bethlehem was a planetary conjunction, Astronomy said, a Jupiter-Saturn pair is not the only candidate. In 3 BC, Jupiter and Venus came closer as close to Earth’s perspective as this year’s Jupiter-Saturn conjunction, and Venus usually looks brighter on Earth than both Jupiter and Earth. Saturn. Then they appeared to “merge into one star” in June 2 BC.
Planetary conjunctions are not the only options, Astronomy noted. Chinese astrologers noticed a “broom star” in the sky in 5 BC, probably a comet, which could also explain the Star of Bethlehem. And supernovae throughout history have looked at people on Earth as big, bright stars. But there is no evidence of a supernova during the birth of Jesus.
Writing for Conversation, Eric M. Vanden Eykel, a professor of religion at Ferrum College in Virginia, said: “I think Matthew’s story about the star exists not to inform readers about a specific astronomical event, but to support the claims he makes. it is about the character of Jesus. “
In other words, perhaps Matthew, writing decades after Jesus’ death, did not remember anything physical seen in heaven, but a spiritual idea.
Originally published on Living science.