The Star of Bethlehem Explained

by WiredBerries Editors — December 25, 2007

Did three wise men actually see a magically bright star when Christ was born? Experts believe it may have well been the alignment of Venus and Jupiter , which would have looked like a massive star, at right around the estimated date of the birth of Christ. Sky And Space magazine editor Dave Reneke is certain that the spectacular alignment of Venus and Jupiter around 2000 years ago is most likely the beacon that guided the magi. Computer models show the planets would have appeared as a single bright point of light in the sky during 2BC, a likely birth year for Jesus Christ.

"There are theories [the star of Bethlehem] may have been a comet or a supernova," Reneke noted. "But to me there's nothing else that would have been as visually dramatic as the combining of these two planets at this period of time."

The Gospel of Matthew refers to three wise men from the East who followed a star to Jerusalem to worship Christ. Reneke points out that while a supernova would have created a spectacular light show, there was no mention of such an event in reliable Chinese astronomical records from the time.

However, complex computer models that re-created the movements of the night sky thousands of years ago have shown that Jupiter and Venus would have come together spectacularly beginning in August 3BC. Reneke explains that the planets would have appeared to have been drawing closer and closer to each other until they looked like one enormous and bright star around the time that Jesus is believed to have been born. Coincidence or not, it's interesting to note that to an observer at the time, there was indeed a brilliant "star of Bethlehem" shining in the night sky all those thousands of years ago.