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To: 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?

Right. But a conjunction of one or more planets with a single star can occur several different times over a period of months or a couple of years -- due to the phenomenon called "retrograde motion" where planets appear to reverse the direction of their orbit around the sun (due to changes in the motion of these planets relative to the motion of the earth).

And there's no reference anywhere in the New Testament to a star or group of stars sitting in one place in the sky for months on end. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the magi did not use the so-called "Star of Bethlehem" to guide them to Bethlehem. They didn't need a star to guide them anywhere.

29 posted on 12/20/2007 4:46:26 PM PST by Alberta's Child (I'm out on the outskirts of nowhere . . . with ghosts on my trail, chasing me there.)
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To: Alberta's Child

Skymap has Jupiter and Regulus together on the night of Apr 2, 2 B.C. but no Venus. Venus, Mars, and Saturn are fairly close as well. Hmm....


34 posted on 12/20/2007 5:57:30 PM PST by scrabblehack
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To: Alberta's Child

You sound like someone who believes this legend. Tell me, even if I give you the existence of Jesus (I don’t), and even if the miracles and all that were true (I believe the whole thing is legend), who was sitting around about the time of his birth saying, “I ought to take note of this stuff, this kid’s definitely going to be worth writing about!”???


38 posted on 12/20/2007 6:08:25 PM PST by hunter112 (Hillary Clinton - America’s Ex-Wife®)
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