The star described in the Gospels, which heralded the appearance of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem, behaves extremely strangely for a celestial body. However, scientists have calculated that under certain conditions, a comet could exhibit similar behavior. They even found a possible candidate.
The Star of Bethlehem
Recently, the Journal of the British Astronomical Association published an article in which scientists attempted to explain the nature of the star that, according to the Bible, heralded the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem and guided the three wise men from the East to him. Surprisingly, they found a completely rational explanation for it.
This is not the first time scientists have tried to understand whether there is any real astronomical event behind the Gospel myth. And it is clear that the word “star” can actually mean any celestial body. However, in the Gospel of Matthias, where it is described in the most detail, its behavior seems too strange.
Based on the text, the star of Bethlehem was initially somewhere in the east, then, overtaking the Magi, it flew west and hovered somewhere at the zenith above the city where Jesus was born. And it is precisely its stopping in one place that seems most strange. Whether it is a planet, a comet, or something else in space, its rotation should be affected by the rotation of our planet; that is, one way or another, it should rise and set during the day.
But in reality, there is one object that truly seems to hover above one place – a satellite in geostationary orbit. Of course, it actually moves, but its linear velocity is such that its angular velocity coincides with the Earth’s rotation.
Comet from Chinese sources
And now scientists have calculated that the same suspension effect could have occurred when a comet flew close to Earth. Of course, it did not enter geosynchronous orbit. But it moved much faster than a satellite in geostationary orbit. This means that at some point, it could have actually hovered over Bethlehem for a couple of hours.
And the most interesting thing is that the authors have already found a good candidate for the role of the Star of Bethlehem – a comet mentioned in the Chinese chronicle “Han Shu,” also known as the History of the Former Han Dynasty. According to this document, the comet appeared in the second month of the second year and was visible for 70 days. This means that it was indeed very bright.
The specified time period is March-April 5 BC. And this coincides perfectly with assumptions about the true date of Jesus’ birth. After all, King Herod, the same one who is credited with the mass murder of infants, ruled Judea from 37 to 4 BC. So, from this point of view, everything is indeed reliable.
However, opponents of the “comet” theory have another argument. In the tradition of Eastern mystics, which theoretically included the three wise kings, the comet was associated with something bad. However, researchers have recently discovered that this is not entirely true, as its appearance could also be linked to events in the royal family. So it could indeed have been perceived as a sign of the birth of a new king.
Provided by: phys.org
