When the wise men followed a star, was it really a comet, a supernova, or an epic planetary alignment?
Right about now, many people are getting in the festive mood. In Colombia, on December 8th they even celebrate the Immaculate Conception of Mary (not what you’re thinking) and light candles in intimate family gatherings.
One element of the festive season that doesn’t get discussed as much anymore is the Star of Bethlehem. For now, the region is a bit sketchy for tourism. However, many travellers have taken pilgrimages to see the star.
If the three wise men (magi) were on their own pilgrimage from Babylon – back then Iraq – to Bethlehem it would have taken several months to a year. But when was this? And what was that shining mystery hanging in the heavens?
Many scholars argue that it could have been a triple planetary conjunction of Jupiter, Saturn and Mars aligned in Pisces around 6BC. In what your horoscope app normally describes as a “retrograde motion,’’ ancient astronomers would have indeed attached significance to such a sighting.
In 3BC a convergence of Jupiter and Venus could also be seen in the sky, which seems to be more timely in accordance with the biblical logistics, which sounds like an oxymoron.
According to modern astrologers, in the summer of that year, the two planets appeared 1/10th of a degree apart and continued their pirouette for almost ten months, seemingly giving ample time to indeed be spotted by the three wise men.
There’s also suggestions that the star could have been a supernova or comet. The supernova idea was first mooted in the seventeenth century by astronomer Johannes Kepler, though opponents have since reasoned that the only nova visible from Earth occurred around 185 AD.
In the Gospel of Matthew, he states "And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was," which would correlate with the idea of a comet having a radiant trail, hence orienting nicely with Matthews’ scholarly enlightenments.
This school of thought gained headway in the 1970s with the New York Times in particular casting a few leads. But also worth noting is that in such ancient times people saw comets as an evil omen, so it seems a leap of the imagination to suggest the wise men would have been leaping around rejoicing.
One thing to layer into this discussion is that the wise men could well have been astrologers themselves as this was ingrained in Babylonian culture at the time.
Furthermore, wouldn’t it have been strange that, with such knowledge, the wise men would have called the planets a supernova or a comet a star? It’s a bit like a Teletubby calling a potato a diamond.
There’s also the possibility that it could have been simply Jupiter in the house of Leo. This planet is associated with abundance and fortune, plus the fact that Leo has roots in regality, so when combining the two, it’s more a case of potato-potata here.
As commonly understood, the biblical account is certainly vague and this allows for embellished and ornamental takes on answering what the star was. Whether or not the pilgrimage of the wise men happened or not is debatable; but certainly something was shining in the sky at the time of the birth.
Semantically, the Star of Bethlehem as a celestial symbol and one that can help bring back the festive meaning nowadays instead of hearing “Santa Baby” again in the mall, while slurping on a gingerbread and whipped cream cappuccino.
With tools like Stellarium, an open-sourced planetarium software, you can view historical perspectives of the sky, but still – how can scientific data be mapped alongside the biblical account? Take into the fold AI and how it will be able to speculate and add nuance to how astronomical events can align with religious folklore.
One thing is for sure, it seems that modern technology can bring about discussions that can combine divine wisdom with quantitative research. When we set out to speculate about such a transcendent symbol, then there’s clearly some shine to that.
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