The Star of Bethlehem is one of the loveliest symbols of Christmas. But what was it? Simply an inspired idea to emphasize the spiritual importance of the story? Or was it based on an actual astronomical happening?

What Was the Star of Bethlehem?

I read recently that an Australian astronomer worked out that the Star of Bethlehem was a major conjunction between Venus and Jupiter in which they were so close together they looked like one body. Oh, this also meant that the nativity occurred in June.

My take on this is in an article I wrote last year asking What Was the Star of Bethlehem? The Star of Bethlehem is one of the loveliest symbols of Christmas. But what was it? Simply an inspired idea to emphasize the spiritual importance of the story? Or was it based on an actual astronomical happening?

(No one knows.)

I like the thought that it was the two planets so close together in sight.

The two planets so close to each other seems like it is magical to me. When miracles happen everything feels magical.

I don't think the Bethlehem star existed in nature. I think it was just a literary star.

In the 17th century, Johannes Kepler said that the Star of Bethlehem was a nova. He thought that it was caused by planetary conjunctions. (In a planetary conjunction, two or more planets seem to be quite close together in the sky.)

But although Kepler worked out three laws that described the motion of the planets, it took another 150 years to work out the size of the Solar System. Two planets may appear to be close together due to our viewing angle, yet be hundreds of millions of miles apart.

A nova happens even farther away. It's a type of dead star re-igniting in a thermonuclear explosion. The nearest stars to us (besides the Sun) are some six trillion miles away and not affected by Solar System planets.