Star of Bethlehem

Star of Bethlehem - While the faithful accept the New Testament Gospels as fact, religious scholars and scientists often seek a scientific basis for many of the events they describe. One that resurfaces every year at Christmas is the Star of Bethlehem. According to the gospel of Matthew, maji (otherwise known as the Three Kings) arrived in Jerusalem looking for the newborn "King of the Jews," saying they had followed a moving "star" to get there.

The faithful say this was a certainly a miracle that proclaimed the birth of the Messiah, but other researchers say the "star" could have been something else: a comet, a planetary conjuction, the planet Jupiter, a supernova, or even a UFO. Many are familiar with the Biblical Star of Bethlehem – the bright star that the wise men followed to reach the birthplace of Jesus of Nazareth. But – what was the historical, astronomical event that initiated this story? What was the Star of Bethlehem? What did the wise men see?

These are questions that have puzzled biblical scholars and scientists alike. And every year, audiences can explore the latest archaeo-astronomy research into this fascinating topic. In the video below, go behind-the-scenes with Adam, one of our Planetarium astronomers, as he updates the film for this year.