Show abe atar tar abat at acm bone oer v etues etU em ill jur e a to science C could it have been A comet a group of planets or a nova by ELLIOTT PINE al styx Ss Z yX N nobi baue toaia born in n in abe bopa babig 0 of ecob tbt hing bebolla cattle to 95 aping ig ia be jt that bat 12 born isac of 0 ait tax ifor we tot babe ottia abig star it abt aub art are oine coine to him bin asrob fit je king ans dab bab befit fie cje wao troubled leb aab all trilb bitle tini bill m arob crob boljen fac jab bab abe blige men inell inqui inquired reb of tejen mijat little tiu star app ajen t ii ty f jab the be hing they eb aab lo 10 abc mar they stall allu in ifft tast luent before cill till fill it stoob ober ebe spot albe pomia coulta if jilb wis abey ania tle live star otar leep tt re miteb will ID it tu telling great jap i op 2210 22 10 33 HE start starl matthew calmly re 1 cords the appearance of this marvelous heavenly portent as a historical fact for 1000 years many millions have believed that the majestic and unimaginably beautiful herald of the messiah actually shone over bethlehem casting a beam of effulgent glory on that stable where the young child was it has seemed entirely fitting that the birthplace of christ should d be pointed out in so magnificent a manner few laymen ever thought of questioning the reality of that st star a r altho although ugh nothing like it ever ever was known before or after the momentous event but astion astronomers omers being exact scientists have tried to reconcile the evangelists words with the known facts on the nature and motions of heavenly bodies the other three gospels by the way do not mention the star I 1 in the century johann ke kap P ler one of the greatest of the early astronomers while calculi calculating ting the orbits of the pickets kilets jupiter saturn and mars extended his figures back to the time of christ ile he discovered that these three planets were in conjunction in the year 7 B C according to the calendar making allowance for the well known error in dating the year of christs birth it was possible to call the year 7 of our era as actually the year in which christ was born now if as kepler calculated the three planets were very close together in that year they would form a brilliant glow in the sky during the month of december so kepler reasoned the conjunction of these planets was the star of bethlehem in hi sign of pisces this conjunction appears in the sign of pisces or the fishes every years since the sign of pisces had a special meaning to the jews it was entirely logical for the magi to interpret an apparently new star within this sign as the long awaited messenger from heaven and to start on the long journey keilers Kep lers theory satisfied ati islieb pretty well until 1828 1826 when professor ideler of berlin pointed out that at no time are the three planets in absolute conjunction so that they would appear as a single star even to the naked eye another piece of evidence tending to cast doubt on the kepler theory was brought in by the geographers they showed that there were no roads or trails through the mountainous regions that the wise men had to traverse on which they could keep the planets in sight for any length of time so this attractive explanation gradually faded out it will not be until early in the century however that scientists can test the full possibilities of keilers Kep lers conjecture it is not entirely ruled out until this time comes perhaps a comet in the last century came a new attempt to explain the star prof R A proctor propounded the theory WAS IT A COMET theory that the star of bethlehem might have been a ecomet camet was advanced lit in the this photo taken in 1910 shows comet that the mystic sign was really a comet these celestial travelers of space flaring faring up suddenly moving across the sky often for days or weeks and then ihen disappearing always impressed the ancients as mighty portents there are a few flaws in this theory too as several historians quickly declared first a comet was a fearful thing to all peoples of antiquity ty tk a harbinger of evil to come a warning of retribution for sin the magi being learned in astrology would know this of course and would not likely consider a comet an announcement of the saviours Savi ours arrival it is possible that these wise men did not follow the prevailing superstition they might have called some comet his star it is objected however that any comet bright enough to attract the wise mens attention would bo be noted down in some secular history josephus joseph us in particular there is no such spell confirmatory account the nova theory the ory lately a plausible and poetic theory has been presented the star of bethlehem may have been a nova or suddenly blazing star for a brief time a nova may outshine every star stai in the sky the most brilliant on record aafred up in 1572 another was observed by tile the aforementioned kepler and by galileo in 1604 novae that can be seen by the human eye are rare it is only since photography has been applied to astronomy that much is known about them what whal causes the flaming phenomenon is not known but possibly it is occasioned by the collision of two dead stars the impact liberates the fiery interiors of the two bodies and the seething gases swirl and shoot in a glorious display of light the nova may burn for some time but eventually it cools and fades and generally dis appears from sight seldom do they last more than a few days so if a nova no va of extraordinary extraordinary brilliance did burst forth a few days or r weeks before the birth ot of christ this could be the star toward which the wise men hurried so long ago it must be remembered however that the nova if such it was actually had burned out long before the first christmas eve because most of the stars are so distant that light takes many years to travel from them to the earth only lately the nova herculis has been seen but its light has been traveling through space for 1300 years at miles a second learned guesses but these conjectures and scientific guesses are simply that guesses no one knows just what the christmas star was or how it directed the wise men from the east to the little town of bethlehem it may be that since there were prophecies to guide the magi to that mat village in judea the star did not exactly point the way as some fanciful legends have put it but merel merely y indicated to the wise men the glorious I 1 day was near at hand the director of the adler planetarium in chicago comments that no star could stand still in the heavens while the three magi plodded wearily onward it would swing with the other stars in the daily round as the earth turns on its axis and again a star could not remain fixed over the stable on that night of nights casting down a great broad beam of purest light that is no natural star could it would move onward with the procession of the heavens until it set below the horizon A Bl miracle iracle but the world has believed in that star for 19 centuries scientists do not deny that it could have been a miracle that star of wonder star of hope that shone over the crib of the saviour it is no more difficult to believe that a star could send its beams down on that sacred spot than that angels sang to the shepherds glory to god in the highest it is one more marvel among many marvels from the scriptures and from tradition it is known that the three wise men or oc magi biagi magi was the term for astrologer in the east saw a great light in the sky and took it for the star that heralded the birth of the king of the jews who would deliver mankind from bondage the three learned men called kings by tradition mounted their camels and came together one from chaldea one from persia and one from arabia their names according accord n g to bede were kaspar melchior and balthasar when they came to the stable in bethlehem they knelt in reverent wonder like the simple shepherds gathered about tae th e babe and offered their rich gifts of gold frankincense and myrrh today although scientific knowledge has advanced a thousand fold since the time of christ the mystery attached to all that sacred story remains the star stai of bethlehem is still a mystery to science it will always remain so for there is no way to recreate the physical conditions of that night so long ago and to investigate vesti gate the phenomena with precise cise instruments but millions of christians will continue to believe that the glorious symbol of hope the star shone over the little stable on that first christmas while celestial music floated over the countryside and all the world was hushed in wonder a 4 X WE THREE KINGS OF ORIENT ARE an century by many authorities considered the finest example of this sort of art presents the well known nativity scene the perfection of the painted figures is remarkable in the background through the end of the gable can be seen the miraculous mira culus 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