I think your comment is Very plausible.
Some thoughts:
Although, the prediction (calculation) of accurate timing for, detection or even observation of *the Star of Bethlehem* (iow, planetary alignment) would have required in-depth knowledge, interpretation & practice of astronomy & astrology (as one poster in this thread puts it too, they were one discipline in those times - No NASA or Galileo).
That must have been quite a task & achievement. Astronomy/astrology of the time were not learned from Babylonians - rather cultivated by Medo-Persians in Babylonia, among other sciences.
For example, if one looks at "NoRooz" (Iranian New Year, which is a Solar-based calendar, in turn, based on "Fasli" or "seasonal" Zoroastrian calendar), the calculations were incredibly precise, even by today's standards.
NoRooz is not simply faith-based, or based on a pre-determined time e.g. midnight on a certain day/date. It is calculated down to the second, and varies from year to year (i.e. the exact time the Sun crosses the Earth's equator in the Northern Hemisphere).
Today's Solar (national, official) Calendar in Iran is a based on work done in ancient, pre-Islamic Iran (mainly, a reformation of "Fasli" i.e. Seasonal calendar). -- Zoroastrian-Iranian non-religious Calendar
In relation to the 3 gifts from the Magi. Given their qualities/properties, symbolism and real-life application (#41), I believe they were presented to the infant Jesus Christ, primarily, as earthly protection.
The ancients were far more accomplished than we know.