The more likely explanation involves planetary movements, not a “star” per se. Those who have an interest in astronomy understand exactly how scenarios like this could have played out in the skies. The planets Venus, Jupiter, Mars and Saturn would have been particularly relevant because they are among the brightest objects in the sky aside from the sun and moon. And because the outer planets periodically engage in apparent retrograde motion across the night sky as they orbit the sun relative to the earth’s orbit, there are rare occasions where planets will align, separate, and then align again over the course of months or even years.
Yes, even then though such movements could be tracked, anticipated and evaluated based on local events and knowledge of the times. The magi would have had access to records dating back to babylon and knew such conjunctions occurred regularly if not often. They were spiritually minded but not necessarily superstitious. This object had them curious as it had appeared at least 2 years before their arrival in Jerusalem.(based on the ages of male children herod had put to death) Conjunctions don’t last 2 years.