Star Of Bethlehem 2023: When To See The Bright Christmas Star With Your Naked Eyes

What was the real Star of Bethlehem? When was Star of Bethlehem last seen? When did the Star of Was the “Star of Bethlehem” an actual astronomical event? At this time of year, it’s always open for debate, yet most years pass without a prime candidate in the actual night sky. In 2023, however, there are two very obvious candidates for the “Christmas Star 2023” title—one before sunrise and the other before sunset. Confusingly, neither of them are stars at all, but planets.

Step outside after dark this week in the northern hemisphere, and you’ll notice a very bright “star” in the east. It’s Jupiter, which is currently shining very brightly all night. It’s just past its annual opposition on November 2-3, when Earth flew directly between Jupiter and the Sun.

“This alignment made Jupiter exceptionally bright, as it was fully illuminated by the Sun from our perspective,” said Dr Minjae Kim, Research Fellow, Department of Physics, University of Warwick in the U. K. , in an email.

“By approximately 9 p. m. , Jupiter will be high in the southern sky, offering a splendid view until it set in the west around 3:30 a.

m. ” The movement of Jupiter offers an intriguing explanation. As with all planets, it usually moves from east to west against the stars, but occasionally, it does the reverse as Earth—on its faster orbit of the sun—undertakes it on the inside.

Just as a car you overtake on a highway appears to be going backward, from your perspective, Jupiter goes retrograde. It’s doing that right now and will be through December 31, but it seems to stop moving as it transitions from going forward to backward. In 2023, that occurred in September, but it’s a cycle—it happens during different months of the year.

“Its motion appears to slow and then stop at a ‘stationary point’ due to the relative movement of Earth and the planets,” said Kim. Jupiter then appears to reverse direction before resuming its west-to-east movement. “During the time of Christ’s birth, one of these stationary points occurred when Jupiter was directly overhead in Bethlehem for several nights, aligning with biblical accounts,” said Kim.

The “Christmas Star” may have been a conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter. The other planetary candidate making its case this month is Venus, which is shining even more brightly than Jupiter. However, it’s doing so in the hours before dawn so fewer people will notice it.

That’s until Christmas morning, when anyone up early with kids might glimpse it shining brightly in the east. Venus is the brightest planet and the third brightest object in the sky other than the moon and the sun. It may be a “Morning Star” at the moment, but it spent most of 2023 as a bright “Evening Star.

” One theory has the “Star of Bethlehem” as a rare sky event called a conjunction whereby two planets—chiefly Jupiter and Venus, in this case—appear to pass so close to each other that they become an almost double planet. It last happened on December 21, 2020, just a few days before Christmas Day, when Jupiter and Saturn were in a close conjunction for the first time in nearly 800 years. Intriguingly, there is for a close conjunction of Jupiter and Venus in the year 2 B.

C. and three times during 7-6 B. C.

Was the “Star of Bethlehem” a supernova? This is Kepler’s Supernova, as seen by the Chandra X-Ray 17th-century astronomer Johannes Kepler—known for his —investigated the matter in the 17th century, arguing that it could have been a supernova. An exploding star that appears bright for a few weeks—and sometimes even visible in daylight—such events are extremely bright but exceptionally rare. Kepler discovered a supernova in 1604, the remnant of which can still be seen today as SN 1604 in the constellation Ophiuchus.

It was the last time a supernova detonated in the Milky Way. However, there is some evidence. “Ancient Chinese records also mention a nova or supernova during the period that aligns with Jesus’ birth,” said Kim.

A final and persuasive theory asserts that the “Christmas Star” could have been Halley’s comet. “Comets, which are not stars but are comet-like in appearance, offer a unique explanation as they move across the sky and could have guided the wise men,” said Kim. The plausibility of this argument rises when the 75-year obit of Halley’s Comet—not calculated until the 18th century—reveals that it would have been seen in the night skies around 12 B.

C. “Chinese and Korean stargazers recorded an object, possibly a comet or nova, around 5 B. C.

, aligning with the estimated time of Jesus’ birth between 6 BC and 4 B. C. ,” said Kim.

The mystery of the Star of Bethlehem will continue to fascinate astronomers and historians alike. The appearance of Jupiter and Venus in the night sky in 2023 offers a compelling explanation, but most of all, it reminds us that human history and the cosmos are forever entwined. .