Saturday, December 26, 1998

Star of wonder still keeps a scientific secret

By JIM JONES

Knight Ridder Newspapers

One of my favorite Christmas songs has a verse that begins, "Do you see what I see -- a star, a star, shining in the night with a tail as big as a kite, with a tail as big as a kite."

The song about the Star of Bethlehem leading the Magi to the place of Christ's birth is one example of the fascination with the bright light the Gospel of Matthew says pinpointed the location of a humble manger almost 2,000 years ago.

Was the heavenly display a comet with a long tail, perhaps even Halley's comet? Or was it an exploding star or an unusual conjunction of planets?

Richard Olenick, chairman of the University of Dallas' physics department, thinks his computer -- with the help of an EZ Cosmos program that allowed him to look back on ancient sky patterns -- sheds light on the subject.

"The star of Bethlehem likely was a clustering of planets," says Olenick. "Jupiter and Saturn appeared close to each other three times within a few months in 7 B.C. Mars joined them on Feb. 20 in the year 6 B.C."

The brightest conjunction of the three planets appeared in March of 6 B.C., likely the time of Jesus's birth, he says. Also, that goes along with theories that Jesus was born in the spring, not in December.

The Rev. Enrique Nardoni, professor of theology at the University of Dallas, said the accounts of shepherds watching their flocks by night give credence to the idea that Jesus was born in springtime.

"It's very cold around Bethlehem in the wintertime, especially at night, and shepherds would not be out tending to their flocks then," Nardoni said.

Many scholars believe that an error in the Christian calendar calendar caused a wrong dating of Jesus' birth. They conclude that he was born between 4 B.C. and 6 B.C.

That opinion is based on Roman records that indicate Herod the Great died about 4 B.C. The Gospel says Herod was alive when Jesus was born and, indeed, tried to have the child killed. Under that time frame, Jesus had to have been born before Herod's demise -- perhaps in 5 B.C. or 6 B.C.

No final answers exist about the date of Christ's birth or the origin of the light that the New Testament says led wise men to the child.

But Olenick speculates that the wise men began their journey in 7 B.C. and completed it during the brightest conjunction of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn in 6 B.C.

Don Garland, director of the Noble Planetarium of the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, examines several theories about the Star of Bethlehem in a 25-minute Christmas show depicting first-century skies.

"We consider all the major possibilities of what the Christmas star might have been," Garland said. "We know that a comet appeared in 5 B.C., so we show a comet -- actually a picture I took of Halley's Comet when it last appeared."

The planetarium show uses special effects to simulate an exploding star or supernova -- another possibility mentioned in explaining the Star of Bethlehem.

"We know there were visible supernovas," he said. "One was documented by the Chinese in 1054."

Also, the planetarium program depicts a conjunction of planets and stars that could explain the Star of Bethlehem. Garland's research indicates Jupiter was close to Regulus, the bright star in the constellation Leo, in 2 B.C. and 3 B.C.

Garland said Jupiter and Saturn also are close together this Christmas season. In Texas, one can look directly overhead about 9 p.m. and see the two bright planets.

A fourth possibility -- that there is no scientific explanation for the Star of Bethlehem -- also is mentioned in the planetarium show.

The star shining in the night may have been just another Christmas miracle, like the birth of a child in the little town of Bethlehem who profoundly changed the world with his teachings about forgiveness, unconditional love and good will.

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(Jim Jones is religion editor of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Write to him at: the Star-Telegram, P.O. Box 1870, Fort Worth, TX 76101, or send e-mail to: jimjones@star-telegram.com )

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