Once In Centuries Conjunction Of Jupiter & Saturn Tonight - Could This Also Have Explained "The Star Of Bethlehem"

 

 

To the naked eye, the two planets  Jupiter and Saturn this evening may actually appear as one especially bright star rather than two, which may explain the “Christmas star” in the Bible.  Now, in the interest of full disclosure, this blog (written by an atheist, me)  does not endorse mystical or supernatural or religious fables or explanations.   However, one can still speculate what religiously -inclined astronomers might contend was visible to the "Magi" some 2,000- odd years ago.  And that is the gist of this post along with what current observers - religious or otherwise - can expect to see tonight.  

First some scriptural background:

 Matthew 2:1-1 notes a "star" leading three wise men to Bethlehem. The exact words attributed to the Magi are: "For we saw his star at its rising and have come to worship Him". 

 However, no other quadriform gospel utters a peep or syllable about it. Why not? If it was an actual occurrence, why didn’t any of the other New Testament authors address it? This is disturbing and makes one recall the words of a Catholic historian, the Rev. Thomas Bokenkotter, writing in his monograph:  ‘A Concise History of the Catholic Church’(page 17):

“The Gospels were not meant to be a historical or biographical account of Jesus. They were written to convert unbelievers to faith in Jesus as the Messiah, or God.”

But for the sake of this post, let's assume for the time being there is something there, some faint signal amidst the noise. We consider ordinary bright stars first. For an observer in Middle Eastern latitudes 2,000 years ago, there would have been at least ten visible at this time of year, each one in a different direction on  the Celestial sphere. Thus, no one star would be visible long, and certainly not at a fixed location or altitude such that it might provide a reliable "search beacon".

 We can also discount a nova or supernova.  Such a cataclysmic event couldn’t have escaped notice, yet there’s no mention in any astronomical records of the time, including from the Chinese, who were already consummate star gazers. An alternative explanation is that the object was a bright comet.  An exceptionally brilliant comet was recorded in 45 B.C. but this is too far in advance of the probable Nativity date.

The only other reasonable explanation is that Matthew's Magi witnessed an uncommon astronomical alignment of bright planets. One such candidate is the triple conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn in 7 B.C. (A "triple conjunction" means that Jupiter and Saturn appeared in close proximity no less than three times in succession.)  One can speculate here that the Magi in preparing for their journey witnessed the first conjunction ca. May 29.  A second event was observed on September 29 could have established that Jerusalem was in the general direction they needed to go. Finally, a third conjunction on Dec. 4 would presumably have provided the final directional "fix", leading the trio to Bethlehem some eight kilometers away.

While some speculate series of conjunctions could have appeared as the fabled star of Bethlehem, modern calculations have proved that theory unlikely.

Never mind.  The conjunction tonight is something unseen on Earth for nearly eight centuries but will be unfolding on the Winter Solstice.  In 1623  a  similar conjunction occurred but on the day side of Earth - so it wasn't visible to terrestrial observers.

Now fast forward to tonight. Jupiter is currently about 539 million miles from Earth, according to astronomy website theskylive.com, and Saturn is nearly a billion miles away.    Thus they only appear to be close in the observer's line of sight, they actually will be about 400 million miles apart in real distance.

 To find the two planets,  look in the southwestern sky shortly after sunset for two especially bright objects. Jupiter is the brighter one on the lower right, while Saturn is fainter and upper left.  For best viewing, Sky and Telescope advises finding a location with an unobstructed view of the southwest sky.

 Anybody with even a small budget telescope should definitely put it to work. According to Earth Sky, astronomers aren’t sure if the planetary pairing will appear as one star or just super close together. Of the astronomers it consulted, most leaned toward the planets as appearing distinct.

 In the words of John Keller, of Fiske Planetarium:

"What’s unique about this conjunction is how well aligned the two will be this time around.  Planets pass each other all the time and they’re always pretty, but to have them this close now, well....Anybody who has a telescope should definitely put their eyepieces on. They’ll see Jupiter with its four moons right next to Saturn with its rings. It should be pretty spectacular. Even with binoculars.  You can actually see Jupiter’s four big moons with a good pair of binoculars. It’s hard to see (Saturn’s) rings, but you’ll see Jupiter, four little dots — which are the moons — and Saturn right next to them. "

We can surmise that the Bethlehem star story from Matthew is basically a spiritual fable.  But looking up at the spectacle of Jupiter and Saturn tonight will at least convey what the event might have looked like to the Magi in that famous fable.