* Astronomy

In August of 3 B.C., "Jupiter seemed to approach so close to Venus that, without binoculars, they would have looked like a single star," according to a 2008 MSNBC report.
This heavenly occurrence followed a series of other unusual alignments of planets and stars in the constellation Leo, which was associated with the ancient Jews and royalty.
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Jupiter underwent two occultations ("eclipses") by the Moon in Aries in 6 BC. Jupiter was the regal "star" that conferred kingships - a power that was amplified when Jupiter was in close conjunctions with the Moon. The second occultation on April 17 coincided precisely when Jupiter was "in the east," a condition mentioned twice in the biblical account about the Star of Bethlehem. In August of that year Jupiter became stationary and then "went before" through Aries where it became stationary again on December 19, 6 BC. This is when the regal planet "stood over." - a secondary royal portent also described in the Bible. In particular, there is confirmation from a Roman astrologer that the conditions of April 17, 6 BC were believed to herald the birth of a divine, immortal, and omnipotent person born under the sign of the Jews, which we now know was Aries the Ram
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The appearance of the Star of Bethlehem most likely occurred sometime between the years 7 and 2 BC.

The Magi visited king Herod sometime between 4 BC and 1 BC, just before he died.

Leading up to this, the Magi would have seen, and predicted, rare astronomical events.

 

On the evening of Feb. 25, 6 BC a rare triple conjunction or "great conjunction" of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, happened in the constellation of Pisces, the Fishes. Pisces, was astrologically associated with the land of Judea.
Jupiter and Saturn passed each other three times, between May and December in 7 BC. Jupiter appeared to pass one degree north of Saturn on May 29; practically the same on Sept. 30; then finally a third time on Dec. 5.

Jupiter and Saturn remained within three degrees of each other, from late April in 7 BC until early January, 6 BC.

To the early astronomers, Leo was a constellation of great astrological significance and associated with Kings.

 

The Star of Bethlehem : December 2001
What was the Star of Bethlehem? This month, Patrick is joined by David Hughes and Mark Kidger, who have made careful studies of the records. Can they give a convincing answer?

A leading academic today weighs into the debate about the origins of the Star of Bethlehem, declaring a comet - not a conventional star - led the Three Wise Men to the baby Jesus.
Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe, director of the Cardiff Centre for Astrobiology, is the latest expert to champion the comet theory.
Although the beginning of the Christian Era is long believed to have been marked by the appearance of the Star of Bethlehem, debate has raged for centuries about what caused the landmark to appear in the skies.

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The Star of Bethlehem is one of the best-known parts of the Christmas story, celebrated in the gospels as well as a constellation of holiday songs. Was it purely a divine sign, created miraculously to mark Jesus' birth? Can the phenomenon be linked to an actual astronomical event?
Astronomers can't answer the first question. However, they can turn the clock back on the night sky's appearance, to come up with some astronomical events that might have been interpreted as a "Star of Wonder" by the ancients.
The most likely candidate for the Christmas Star made its most dramatic appearance not on Dec. 25 in the year 1 A.D., but on June 17 in the year 2 B.C. What's more, that event was not the appearance of a single bright star, but a grand conjunction involving the brightest planets and one of the brightest stars in the sky.

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