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Show ZZTfje tav tEJjat Hfjonc 'tv petfjlcfjem Mill Jforeber Bt a itlpsterp to detente messenger from heaven, and to start cn the long journey. Kepler's theory satisfied pretty well until 1826, when Professor Ideler of Berlin pointed out that at no time are the three planets in absolute conjunction con-junction 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 mountain-ous 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 explana-tion gradually faded out. It will not be until early in the 25th century, however, that scientists can test the full possibilities of Kepler's conjecture. conjec-ture. It is not entirely ruled out until this time comes. Perhaps a Comet. In the last century oame a new attempt to explain the Star. Prof. R. A. Proctor propounded the theory appears from sight. Seldom do they last more than a few days. So if a nova of extraordinary brilliance bril-liance did burst forth a few days or weeks before the birth 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 Her-culis Her-culis has been seen, but its light has been traveling through space for 1300 years, at 186,000 miles a second. Learned Guesses. But these conjectures and scientific scien-tific 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 proph-ecies to guide the Magi to that village vil-lage in Judea, the Star did not exactly ex-actly point the way, as some fanciful fanci-ful legends have put it, but merely indicated to the wise men the glorious glori-ous day was near at hand. The director of the Adler Planetarium Plane-tarium in Chicago comments that no star could "stand still" in the heavens heav-ens 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 Miracle. 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 dif-ficult 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 th highest." It is one more marvel among many marvels. From the Scriptures and from tradition tra-dition it is known that the three wise men or Magi ("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. Ara-bia. Their names, according to Bede, were Kaspar, Melchior, and Bal-thasar. Bal-thasar. When they came to the stable in Bethlehem, they knelt in reverent wonder, like the simple shepherds gathered about the Babe, and offered of-fered their rich gifts of "gold, frankincense frank-incense and myrrh." Today, although al-though scientific knowledge has advanced ad-vanced a thousand-fold since the time of Christ, the mystery attached to all that sacred story remains. Could It Have Been A Comet, a Group of Planets, or a Nova? By ELLIOTT PINE Notu toben 2feauS toag born in JSethlcfKin of Jubea in tlje baps of JOerob tbe king;, befjolb tfjert tame toiae men from ttje Cast to Jerusalem, feaping, Elfjere (S fje tfjat fs born fcing of tfje 3Tetos? Jfoc toe tjabe seen tjis star in the east, anb are tome to toorship him. KItjen Jjetob the king hab heart! these things, be teas troubleb, anb all Jerusalem truth hint- tThen Jfjerob.tohen hehab prfbilp calico tlje trjise men, inquireb of them biligentlp tubal time tbe star appeareb. IHheri the? bab fjearb the fefng, the? beparteb; anb lo, the star, totjicb tbep Saba in the east, tnent before them, till it stoob ober the spot Inhere the poung cljilo boas. Ulhen tbep Sato the star, they rejoiteb toith exteebing great jop. -JHattbebj 2:2-10 'TpHE Star! Matthew calmly re-cords re-cords the appearance of this marvelous heavenly portent as a historical his-torical fact For 1900 years many millions have believed that the majestic ma-jestic and unimaginably beautiful herald of the Messiah actually shone over Bethlehem, casting a beam of effulgent glory on that stable sta-ble "where the young child was." It-has seemed entirely fitting that the birthplace of Christ should be pointed out in so magnificent a manner. man-ner. Few laymen ever thought of questioning the reality of that star, although nothing like it ever was known before or after the momentous momen-tous event. But astronomers, being exact scientists, have tried to reconcile recon-cile the evangelist's words with the known facts on the nature and motions mo-tions of heavenly bodies. The other three Gospels, by the way, do not rhention the star. In the 17th century, Johann Kepler, Kep-ler, one of the greatest of the early astronomers, while calculating the j orbits of the planets Jupiter, Saturn and Mars, extended his figures back to the time of Christ. He discovered I that these three planets were in con-i con-i junction in the year 7 B. C, according accord-ing to the calendar. Making allowance al-lowance for the well known error in dating the year of Christ's birth, 1 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 Sign of Pisces. This conjunction appears in the sign of Pisces, or the Fishes, every 800 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 WAS IT A COMET? Theory that the Star of Bethlehem might have been a comet was advanced in the 19th century. This photo, taken in 1940, shows Cunningham's Comet. that the mystic sign was really a comet. These celestial travelers of space, flaring up suddenly, moving across the sky often for days or weeks, and then disappearing, always al-ways impressed the ancients as mighty portents. There are a few flaws in this theory, the-ory, too, as several historians quickly quick-ly declared. First, a comet was a fearful thing to all peoples of antiquity, an-tiquity, a harbinger of evil to come, a warning of retribution for sin. The Magi, being learned in astrology, astrolo-gy, would know this, of course, and would not likely consider a comet an announcement of the Saviour's 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, object-ed, however, that any comet bright enough to attract the wise men's attention at-tention would be noted down in some secular history Josephus, in particular. partic-ular. There is no such confirmatory confirma-tory account. The Nova Theory. Lately, a plausible and poetic theory the-ory 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 in the sky. The most brilliant on record flared up in 1572. Another was observed by the aforementioned afore-mentioned 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 causes the flaming flam-ing phenomenon is not known, but possibly it is occasioned by the collision col-lision of two "dead" stars. The impact im-pact .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- The Star 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 in- vestigate the phenomena with pre- i 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 celes-tial music floated over the countryside, country-side, and all the world was hushed in wonder. WE THREE KINGS OF ORIENT ARE An 18th century "prcsepio" by many authorities considered the finest example of this sort of art, presents the well-known Nativity scene. The perfection of the painted I figures is remarkable. In the background, thiough the end of the gable, can be seen the miraculous Star. j |
