Scientists' opinions about what the star of Bethlehem really was
Scientists consider the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, Halley's comet, the covering of Jupiter by the Moon, or a supernova explosion as the Bethlehem star that pointed the Magi to the birthplace of the baby Jesus. The Science Department of Gazeta. Ru was investigating why it is not so easy to find an unambiguous explanation for the phenomenon of the Star of Bethlehem.
According to the Gospel of Matthew, the Star of Bethlehem is a bright heavenly body that showed the Magi the way to the house where the baby Jesus was born. A star lit up in the east when Jesus was born, and brought the Magi to Jerusalem, from where King Herod sent them to Bethlehem of Judea. “After listening to the king, they went. And behold, the star that they saw in the east walked in front of them, as it finally came and stopped over the place where the Child was,”says the Gospel of Matthew.
If we assume that the events described in the Gospel are true, the question arises of what the Star of Bethlehem was. Obviously, only a truly unusual and bright celestial body could attract the attention of the Magi, however, according to theologians, the star could not be a real celestial object at all.
Thus, the interpreter of Holy Scripture Theophylact of Bulgaria wrote: “When you hear about a star, do not think that it was one of those visible to us: no, it was a divine and angelic power that appeared in the form of a star. Since the Magi were engaged in the science of the stars, the Lord brought them to this, for them a familiar sign, like Peter the fisherman, amazed by the multitude of fish, drew them to Christ. And that the star was an angelic power, it is evident from the fact that it shone brightly during the day, walked when the Magi walked, shone when they did not walk: especially from the fact that it went from the north, where Persia, to the south, where Jerusalem: but the stars never go from north to south."
Planetary conjunction
In 1614, the German astronomer Johannes Kepler found out that in 7 BC. a series of three conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn occurred. The scientist suggested that the planets approaching each other could be seen from the Earth, and it was this phenomenon that became known as the "Star of Bethlehem". However, modern calculations show that the distance between the planets was about two diameters of the Moon, which means that Jupiter and Saturn could hardly have made such an impression on the Magi.
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In 3–2 years BC. a series of seven conjunctions of cosmic bodies occurred, including three conjunctions of Jupiter and Regulus (the brightest star in the constellation Leo), as well as the unusually close conjunction of Venus and Jupiter on June 17, 2 BC. and in August 3 BC. However, these events are not very good candidates for the role of the Star of Bethlehem: planetary connections were visible in the west at sunset, which means they could not show the Magi the way to the south and bring them from Jerusalem to Bethlehem.
Comet
Halley's comet was visible from Earth in 12 BC. for about 60 days and could theoretically be a good candidate for the role of a star, but at that time astronomers already knew how to distinguish comets from other cosmic bodies and considered them a bad omen.
New or supernova
Another object similar to a flared new star was observed by Korean and Chinese astronomers in 5 BC. This object was visible for 70 days and at the same time did not move - just like the Star of Bethlehem, which seemed to "hang" over the house of Mary and her baby.
In 2005, a hypothesis arose that the Star of Bethlehem was a supernova that exploded near the Andromeda galaxy, 2.52 million light years distant from Earth.
Despite the fact that it is extremely difficult to detect traces of a supernova or determine the exact time of its outburst in another galaxy, scientists have managed to find supernova remnants in the Andromeda galaxy.
Heliacal sunrise
One of the theories says that the expression "in the east", used in the Gospel, can be interpreted not just as an indication of the side of the world, but albeit a little-known, but quite specific astronomical term - heliacal sunrise. This expression means the first morning sunrise of a star or planet after a certain period of invisibility. Before the heliacal rise, the star is in the daytime sky for some time and is invisible, after which at a certain moment it rises on the eastern side of the sky against the background of dawn.
However, other translators of the ancient text assure that the Gospel does not contain specific astronomical vocabulary and that the expression “in the east” the author only wanted to point to the side of the world.
Jupiter cover
Astronomer Michael Molnar claims that the events that took place on March 20 and April 17, 6 BC - the covering of Jupiter by the Moon became the star in the East. Covering is an astronomical phenomenon in which one space object passes in front of another, obscuring part of it.
Scientists believe that the covering of Jupiter by the Moon could not be visible from Earth with the naked eye, which means that it could hardly be mistaken for a bright star.
On the other hand, when the wise men came to King Herod, who sent them from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, the king was surprised by this visit. This means that he did not see the "guiding star" of the Magi - but they, being educated and versed in astronomy, could well have noticed the cover.
Despite a considerable number of theories that could explain the appearance of the star of Bethlehem in the sky, none of them is generally accepted as correct.