Some have said the star of Bethlehem was a planetary configuration. That is not possible. The land of judaea is too far North to fit the description. The men who sail the seas will understand.
It is more likely that the star of Bethlehem was possibly a nova from a rotating star whose polar axis was generally pointed in our direction. The initial crucial would have only lasted a minute or so, just long enough for the magi to get a fix on it. Then it would have rapidly settled down to a normal looking star, slowly dimming to obscurity.
The magi would have calculated it vertical transit somewhere in the land of judaea. For some, they would have decided that the child long awaited had just been born. After a year of searching they would have ended up in Bethlehem where the star was still visible, not quite gone. Mathew knew his astronomy.
The wise men had a master back home. They would not simply given the gifts and departed. They would have been like godfathers to the child. Everyone seems to forget that the entire Christian story turns on the arrival of the wise men, first in Jerusalem, and then in Bethlehem 10 miles to the south.
I have my own candidate, one that NASA would disagree with, that is at the general required latitude. However, the event would have been in June by our calendar, which seasonably adjusted for the precession of the equinoxes would put it in May. The first minute would have been an unimaginable light followed by a rapid diminution. Because it would have occurred at midnight in Judea, most of the people would have been asleep. Only the nightwatch would have seen it.
Some have said the star of Bethlehem was a planetary configuration. That is not possible. The land of judaea is too far North to fit the description. The men who sail the seas will understand.
It is more likely that the star of Bethlehem was possibly a nova from a rotating star whose polar axis was generally pointed in our direction. The initial crucial would have only lasted a minute or so, just long enough for the magi to get a fix on it. Then it would have rapidly settled down to a normal looking star, slowly dimming to obscurity.
The magi would have calculated it vertical transit somewhere in the land of judaea. For some, they would have decided that the child long awaited had just been born. After a year of searching they would have ended up in Bethlehem where the star was still visible, not quite gone. Mathew knew his astronomy.
The wise men had a master back home. They would not simply given the gifts and departed. They would have been like godfathers to the child. Everyone seems to forget that the entire Christian story turns on the arrival of the wise men, first in Jerusalem, and then in Bethlehem 10 miles to the south.
I have my own candidate, one that NASA would disagree with, that is at the general required latitude. However, the event would have been in June by our calendar, which seasonably adjusted for the precession of the equinoxes would put it in May. The first minute would have been an unimaginable light followed by a rapid diminution. Because it would have occurred at midnight in Judea, most of the people would have been asleep. Only the nightwatch would have seen it.