During the Christmas festivities, one of the most significant traditions in homes is placing the tree and then decorating it with spheres and colored lights, but perhaps the most important element of all is the christmas star and this is on behalf of the star that guided the three wise men to Bethlehem to bring their offerings to the baby Jesus, according to the Bible. But, Did the Christmas star really exist? And if so, was it an astronomical phenomenon?
There are very few clues about the Christmas star
The concept of the Christmas star has been widespread and is part of the traditions of this time of year, but there are very few clues about its existence or description. In fact, the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament is the only biblical record where this bright light is spoken of, and even there the information is also scarce. The The most relevant reference is the one that appears in Matthew 2:9:
“When they had heard the king, they left; and behold, the star that they had seen in the east went before them, until it came and stood over where the child was.”
The Historians and even astronomers face a series of problems to decipher whether the Christmas star really existed. The first is that if the biblical description is taken literally, then the star could not have been any type of known natural phenomenon, for the simple fact that no celestial body behaves in such a way.
But if we give a little artistic credit to the writer, then the possibilities open up that this is a poetic description of an event that really happened. In this case, there are a few possible explanations.
A supernova or a comet?
Although it is often believed that Jesus was born exactly in December of the year 0, the truth is that this turning point is more a reference for accounting for time than for Jesus birth. To date historians have not been able to discover the exact date of birth, but It is believed that it could have been between 7 and 4 BC. c.
Furthermore, the date of December 25 does not coincide with the biblical clues about the birth of Jesus. According to Luke 2:8, on the night the birth occurred, the shepherds were in the field “keeping watch over their flock by night,” something that it is very unlikely that it happened in winter and more likely that it happened in spring.
If an astronomical phenomenon occurred that gave rise to the idea of the Christmas star, tmust have occurred in the spring of any of the years stipulated above and although there are very few astronomers, the Chinese documented the appearance of a comet in year 5 which was probably also seen in 4 BC. The central problem with a cometary star is that comets are only seen for a few moments in the sky and it could not have lasted long enough in the sky to guide a group of humans in it.
Another possibility described by astronomers is that of at least two planets and perhaps up to three: Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. According to the calculations of sky watchers, between the years 6 and 5 BC, the occurred in the constellation of Pisces.
The Last of the possibilities is that the Christmas star was a supernova, in this case it would explain the appearance of a beam of light never seen before that suddenly shines in the sky. According to Chinese records, A star with these characteristics appeared in the sky in the spring of the year 5 BC, and was seen for more than two months. However, this explanation faces its own problem and that is that the supernova appeared in the constellation of Capricorn and according to the celestial map, it would not have indicated the path to Bethlehem, as explained by the .
Unfortunately, none of the explanations completely fits the description of the Christmas star, which guided the three wise men to the home of Jesus, so it could have been more of a poetic device that became a matter of faith.