Christmas Eve: star of Bethlehem actually 3 BC
24 December 2004
by Richard
Conan-Davies
image: produced with Starry night Pro 3.0
|
Could the Christmas star over Bethlehem at the time of Christ's Birth have been a conjunction of Jupiter and Venus rising in the morning ? This is the suggestion from Seth Meyers, enthusiast of software astronomy program Starrynight, as discussed in their monthly newsletter Starrynight times. If you check around the east during August 12th in the year 3 BC near Jerusalem or Bethlehem at about 4.48AM local time with an astronomy planeterium program you can see for your self. But for the people at the time they would have seen Venus and Jupiter as one object. |
There are many other explanations of the star of Bethlehem such as comets or other even exploding supernova. But it certainly seems likely that there was a definite astronomical event going on during the time of Christ's birth. |
Related Links
Nature &
Science News
ClearlyExplained.com