What was the Star of Bethlehem?

[DaveC426913]

Happy Yuletide and sun-return to all of you!

omg, that is so Northern-hemispherist-centric.

 

[russ_watters]

Baywax, I'd certainly buy a loose-language/backhanded reference to an astrological event. I've suspected something like that since it's not the first time I've seen reference to an "alignment" that isn't even close. All that can really be said is that all the visible planets are in the same quarter of the sky (which is still a remarkable event).

 

[Gokul43201]

I don't know if astronmers actually use it, but it's a navigation term: Closest Point of Approach.

Anyway, weird, but I may have gotten the wrong year there (they were similarly aligned 6AD on that date). Apparently, there was a solar eclipse on April 18th, but not for viewers in Israel. Here is roughly what they would have seen (if the sun had been eclipsed - since it is zoomed-out, the moon and sun sizes are exaggerated). Location: Tel Aviv. Still pretty cool.

Wow! That is pretty awesome. Not an alignment obviously, so it's hard to imagine anyone would call it a star, but it's still pretty impressive! Also, being mid-day, I imagine nothing would have been visible for people not in the umbra. Where would you have had to have been to see the solar eclipse?

 

[baywax]

Baywax, I'd certainly buy a loose-language/backhanded reference to an astrological event. I've suspected something like that since it's not the first time I've seen reference to an "alignment" that isn't even close. All that can really be said is that all the visible planets are in the same quarter of the sky (which is still a remarkable event).

Right on Russ... its a bit mystifying that the eastern account of the "magi" is the number 12... right in line with the number of zodiacs... perhaps there were no "visitors" other than a zodiacal conjunction/alignment/eclipse/comet etc... The zodiacs were, after all, considered kings and gods and animal spirits etc... and still are.. in some circles.

I'd still like to try to debunk the high and mighty claims surrounding astrology to the base level of physics, gravity and other influences on the rather weakened susceptibility of mammalian cellular physiology. (ie: full moon drives us looney, retrograde Mars causes accidents and so on) Is there already a thread on this?

 

[russ_watters]

Also, being mid-day, I imagine nothing would have been visible for people not in the umbra. Where would you have had to have been to see the solar eclipse?

Thats not an easy thing to ascertain from Starry Night - I can't even be sure there was an umbra. It looked close to total from Philly though, so if there was, it was probably within a few thousand miles of there.

 

[RocketSurgery]

Two words:::

Ball

Lightning