Suggestions range from the idea that it was an example of Midrash, wherein the writer of Matthew’s Gospel used the myths of a “star” to indicate the birth of a great personage. Examples include stories of a star appearing at the birth of Abraham, Moses and several of the Roman Caesars.
Other theories of the star of Bethlehem include the explanation that a comet appeared around the time of Jesus’ birth. Comets often have tails and these can be imagined to point towards or away from any point near the horizon.
Conjunctions of planets, particularly of Jupiter and Saturn, were used in that time to signal great events, such as the birth of rulers. Conjunctions, as astronomers refer to them, are common occurrences — they take place at periodic intervals as the planets orbit the sun at differing angular velocities.
Planets also had meanings because of their appearance in the sky. Jupiter, being visible as a large star-like object, was thought to be the “royal” star. Saturn and Venus also held various meanings in different cultures.
However, Mark Kidger, in his best-selling book “The Star of Bethlehem” (Princeton University Press, 1999) suggests that there really was a star of Bethlehem. He says that DO Aquilae, still visible as a faint star, erupted in 5 B.C., was visible during daylight and recorded by Chinese astrologers, and fit the criteria as the guiding star for the Magi.
I had the opportunity to image the exact area where DO Aquilae is located. The image below is circled simply because the star is so faint I cannot tell which it is. Click on for a larger view.
On the evening after Christmas, with the wind gusting near 20 mph, I had an hour of moderate viewing before a cloud front came in. I had never imaged NGC 891 with my new equipment. NGC 891 is an edge-on unbarred spiral galaxy about 30 million lys away in the constellation Andromeda. It has a faint dust lane along its equator.
I set my camera to take 20 X 1 min. images. Despite the wind, my dome did quite well in holding the scope rock-solid.
Also, this was the first time I had a chance to try out my newly-insulated ante-room, which I call the “warm room.” For $79 in insulation and particle board, my heater was able to bring temps up to a toasty 50 degrees. Believe me, in wintertime, anything over freezing is Florida in summer.
Click on NGC 891 for a cropped, but larger view.
