[Alberta's Child]

There have been a few very interesting threads on this subject over the last couple of years, and this is the first time I've seen this kind of speculation about the "star" actually being daytime planetary conjunctions.

Some of the folks who posted on these other threads made some very compelling cases for what the Star of Bethlehem was, and based on a number of these points I've concluded the following: If the information presented in the New Testament was accurate, then: 1) the "star" was not a comet, or supernova, or other such unusual celestial phenomenon; and 2) the Magi did not use the "star" to guide them to the right place.

[CondorFlight]

If the star was just an ordinary celestial event, then it would have been visible to everyone; and Herod's own astrologers or interpreters would have seen it as early as the Wise Men did, and it would have come as no surprise.

But the text says that all Jerusalem was troubled when they heard that sages had arrived saying they had seen the star announcing the birth of the messiah.

So most likely none of the ordinary explanations fit.