The famed star of Bethlehem may have been less miracle and more rare celestial alignment, according to a new study tying it to a comet recorded in ancient China. Researchers writing in the Journal of the British Astronomical Association argue that a "broom star," aka a comet, described in the Han Shu, a historical document on the Former Han dynasty, matches both the timing and behavior of the biblical star said to have guided the Magi, per Phys.org. The Chinese text notes a bright comet visible for more than 70 days in the "second month" of the "second year," which scholars translate as March 9 to April 6 in the year 5BC—within many historians' estimated window for Jesus' birth and during the reign of Herod the Great.
The Gospel of Matthew describes a star that first appeared in the east, seemed to move ahead of the Magi on their journey, and then "stood over" Bethlehem. That apparent stop-and-hover motion has long challenged astronomers, since stars and planets generally rise and set with the Earth's rotation. The new study models how a comet passing close to Earth could briefly appear nearly motionless in the sky if it entered a "temporary geosynchronous" position. Simulations suggest the Han Shu comet could have done exactly that in June of the year 5BC, appearing almost fixed above Bethlehem for roughly two hours.
The team also examined whether such a sight would have meant "new king" to the Magi, often thought to be astrologers, per Space.com. While comets are frequently portrayed as bad omens in ancient sources, the authors note that Mesopotamian and Greco-Roman texts include more mixed interpretations, with some linking comets to events in royal households, per Phys.org. That, they argue, could have prompted the Magi to see the 5BC comet as a sign of a royal birth in Judea. The study stops short of proving the Chinese and biblical objects were the same, but it concludes it's no longer reasonable to claim that no natural astronomical event could match Matthew's description.
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
