[BenLurkin]

The lawyer in him, Larson said, required him to investigate what it was that he was putting up in his front yard.

"Who can I sue?"

[shield]

ping

[shield]

ping

[muir_redwoods]

Please read “The Star” By Arthur Clarke, It might seem too strange to some but I love it

[Ancient Drive]

truly astounding. at the foundations of Science there will always be God waiting for our feeble minds to walk the path.

[VRW Conspirator]

How do you prove or disprove a miracle?

[Paleo Conservative]

Texas A&M adjunct law professor Frederick Larson began researching the Star after putting up a nativity scene for his daughter. The lawyer in him, Larson said, required him to investigate what it was that he was putting up in his front yard. Beginning with the book of Matthew, he ended up on a decade-long odyssey into astronomy.

Since when does A&M have a law school?

[Michael.SF.]

I recall once going to the Griffith Park observatory where they projected onto the ceiling their version of what the night sky looked like in the days of the ancient Greeks. It was an amazing site, one which cannot be matched today even in some very remote areas.

What I was most surprised about was that Saturn, clearly stood out from the others has having something unique about because of the rings.

The apparent convergence of stars and a planet would have been quite an amazing sight.

[Doomonyou]

later

[diverteach]

Somebody needs to rub this into the face of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

[kalee]

Hope he sends this proof to the ArchBishop of Canterbury.

[hunter112]

Conjunctions of stars seldom last for more than a couple of days, not enough to inspire a lengthy trip. Besides, what point is constantly under a single star, or group of stars, unless we're talking about Polaris and the North Pole?

Trying to explain a myth using science is pure folly. Believe the story if you want to or not, but looking to "printing errors" in the 4th Century (1000 years before printing!) to explain what you want to swallow, and want others to swallow is an excercise in futility.

[Domandred]

a triple conjunction of Jupiter, Venus and the star Regulus on April 3, 2 B.C., and a new moon.

I don't believe it. Fired up my Starry Night and set it for that date. There was a new moon on April 5th (April 3rd wasn't fully new yet). Jupiter is pretty close to Regulus but not a conjunction. Venus was almost at the horizon and in Auriga while Jupiter was in Leo (near Regulus).

Now new moon and Jupiter near but not conjuncted with Regulus could be errors in calculations. However with Venus being basically in a completely different sector that blows his "finding" out of the water.

I still consider the Star of Bethlehem to be a comet (which would last in visible sky for a week or so) or other temporary celestial occurance like a very bright supernova (which would only last a few days).

[Gondring]

Ping

[MattinNJ]

bttt

[AmericanDave]

The answer to the question is '42'

[Sir Gawain]

Jesus called himself the bright morning star (Revelations 22:16)

My Bible doesn't have a book called Revelations.

[VOA]

bump

[zot]

Two passages in Matthew’s Gospel are overlooked in studies of this subject:

“Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star appeared” (Mt 2:7) and

“Herod ... sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old and under, according to the time which he had ascertained from the wise men.” (Mt 2: 16).

Thus, the wise men apparently told Herod, “The star appeared two years ago.”

That means it wasn’t a conjunction of planets, because they don’t last that long.

Whatever it was, I think it was something that would make more sense to astrologers (which the Magi were) than to astronomers.

[GiovannaNicoletta]

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