Science is interesting if it can offer a visual and entertaining illustration of its capabilities.44
During the long New Year and Christmas holidays, I remembered an old problem: can astronomy establish the date of birth of Jesus? This day is not specified in the Bible, and December 25 (we will not delve into the discrepancies between the Gregorian and Julian calendars) was chosen at the Ecumenical Council in the 4th century, so that the Roman pagans who celebrated Saturnalia would find it easier to adopt Christianity. And in general, before the Nicene Council, Jesus was not considered God, so it never occurred to celebrate any day due to the absence of the hero of the occasion.
Reconstruction of the dates of historical events can be carried out using various methods. But the most reliable is the coincidence of terrestrial events with celestial phenomena that lend themselves to accurate dating. Best of all are solar eclipses, but there is not a word about them in the biblical story. In the Gospel, one can catch on to the mention of the Star of Bethlehem, which led the three wise men from the East (in the Byzantine tradition - from Persia) first to Jerusalem, then to Bethlehem, where she disappeared over the horizon, and the pilgrims found a mother and a wonderful baby.
Astronomy has been in desolation in our country in recent decades. Modern astronomy has transformed into astrophysics and requires expensive equipment - spacecraft and huge terrestrial observatories. But unlike the United States, our astronautics have not been involved in deep space for a long time, and the last observatories were built in our country in the 1960s, when we managed to become world leaders in this field. The question of the Russian groom of the XIX century about why geography is needed, in the XXI century it is just right to rewrite it on astronomy.
Meanwhile, the vast majority of the great scientists who made the glory of world science were precisely astronomers. Ptolemy, Copernicus, Galileo, Newton and Kepler, even Nostradamus and most of the modern Nobel laureates. Even Einstein, though not looking through a telescope, was thinking about the universe. Astrophysics and cosmology are now firmly linked to the microcosm. Astronomy is no longer tedious nighttime observations of the starry sky in a pointed cap, but work on unique equipment with elementary particles that are caught by sensitive detectors. Therefore, the lack of attention to astronomy, which resulted, among other things, in the exclusion of astronomy from the school course, even more throws domestic science to the sidelines of progress.
In 2016, the biggest scientific discovery was the experimental proof of the existence of gravitational waves. The entire modern scientific paradigm was built on the recognition of their existence, but the main difference between science and religion is the need for material evidence. Now they have been received, but we are not yet able to comprehend the consequences of this discovery. With a high probability, all the current political clashes - the change of presidents, the wars in the East and even the elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation - will turn out to be immeasurably less important than the detection of traces of gravitational waves.
Nobel laureate Richard Feynman believed that the discovery of electromagnetic waves had a greater impact on history than the French Revolution. In other words, Faraday is cooler than Napoleon. Advances in nuclear physics, that is, the discovery of strong and weak interactions, changed the development of civilization in the 20th century. The fourth (and last) type of interaction is gravitational waves, coupled with recent discoveries in the microworld (antimatter, Higgs boson, quarks). Even now, the picture of the future depends much more on negotiations in the offices of Bill Gates, Elon Musk, and Steve Jobs' successors than on the summits of presidents and secretaries of state. In the 21st century, I am sure this trend will become even more convincing.
Astronomy returns to school in 2017. Her rehabilitation is one of the rare paragraphs that deserves to be commended in the stream of reforms sweeping Russian education. But each science is of interest if it can offer the adolescent a visual and entertaining illustration of its capabilities. Calculating the date of birth of Jesus is just such an illustration.
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English astronomer David Hugs tried to find the Star of Bethlehem that led the Magi to the birthplace of Jesus. What astronomical events are similar to those described in the Bible? After studying ancient Babylonian and Chinese astronomical records, Hugs found a rare combination of Jupiter and Saturn mentioned in biblical texts in the constellation Pisces in 7 BC. Accurate astronomical dating suggests that Christ's birthday is September 15, 7 BC. This date removes the contradiction associated with the fact that it was difficult to escape from the winter cold in the stable in winter. Snow lay in the Judean Highlands. In addition, the Gospel says that on the night of Jesus' birth, shepherds in the field watched over and grazed the sheep, which is pointless in winter.
Astronomer Percy Seymour from Plymouth recreated a model of the sky and received confirmation of the Hugs theory. Back in the early 17th century, Johannes Kepler calculated that the most appropriate sight on Christmas night would be the meeting of Saturn and Jupiter. The fact is that due to the difference in the speeds of Jupiter, Saturn and Earth, in less than a month, massive planets can converge into one bright point three times. That is, this was quite enough for a walking pilgrimage from Persia to Israel.
Confirmation that Jesus was born in September is the Gospel of Luke, which has been analyzed by experts in Jewish worship. Conclusion: the text contains an indirect indication that the Archangel Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary in December. In addition, non-canonical sources mention the journey of Joseph and Mary a year before the birth of Jesus to pay an important tax. Archaeologists have proven that this is a universal tax established by the Roman Empire in Asia Minor and the Middle East. This tax was paid regularly every few years, the closest date to the biblical events - 8 BC. That is, it all boils down to the fact that Jesus was born in September 7 BC. e.
Science would not be science if it held on to one hypothesis. What if the star of Bethlehem is not the same Saturn and Jupiter, but something else? Like a new star outbreak? By the way, the friend of the great Kepler, the Italian Jerome Cardan (the cardan shaft is his invention) put forward just such a version. New stars flare up once in hundreds of years, after a long glow they disappear, leaving either a growing nebula (like the Crab nebula, for example), or a small star. The former are called Supernovae, the latter are called Nova stars. Nothing prevents us from suggesting that the Magi saw the gradually fading New Star.
Astronomical records of 5 BC were found in the Chinese annals. about the outbreak of a New Star, which shone brightly in early spring in the constellation of Capricorn for 70 days. The English astronomers Clark, Parkinson and Stephenson, having linked the ancient classification of celestial objects to the modern scale, established the coordinates of the New Star. The journey from Persia to Jerusalem took five months; the Magi arrived in Jerusalem in late September - early October. The star of Bethlehem could be seen in Jerusalem in the south at the end of September. The star rose after sunset, rose slightly above the horizon, and after about three hours set over the horizon. It can be assumed that the star "stopped" right above the house where the Holy Family was located, and showed the Magi the coveted place.
It must be emphasized that these investigations are not at all a revision of the foundations of Christianity, much less, and in fact other guardians of the purity of the faith may suspect blasphemy. Because the most important thing is not the exact date of birth of Jesus, but his life. And the truths that he preached. They have not lost their importance to this day. And, in the end, Pope John Paul II said that science and faith are two wings of the same truth.
As for astronomy, the great Kant equated reverent reflections on the starry sky above him and the moral law within it …
Sergey Leskov