NASA scientist discovers what Star of Bethlehem likely was 2,000 years later
A new scientific study has attempted to explain what the Star of Bethlehem actually was.
The Star of Bethlehem is referred to as the biblical 'Christmas star' from the Gospel of Matthew that guided the Magi (Wise Men) to the birthplace of Jesus.
While many Christians see it as a miracle, astronomers have proposed different theories over the years.
In 2025, NASA planetary scientist Mark Matney published a study about the Star in Journal of the British Astronomical Association.
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The main focus of the paper was to break down the idea that the Star was a comet, as detailed in ancient Chinese astronomical texts from 5 BCE.
After using a novel numerical orbit-computing technique to model its motion and visibility from Earth, the model suggests that this 5 BCE comet could have passed very close to Earth in early June of that year.
The reason why the Star seemed briefly slow, and even stationary, could have been due to 'temporary geosynchronous motion', which made the comet appear to 'stand over' as if they were walking from Jerusalem to Bethlehem.
That being said, Matney acknowledged a key problem with the hypothesis.
"The first issue that must be addressed is the source material for the story of the Star," he noted.
"The second chapter of Matthew (2:1–16) is the only biblical passage – and the primary literary source – that describes the events surrounding the Magi’s journey to Judea and their observations of the Star.
"The book of Matthew was probably written sometime in the second half of the first century CE, which means its author was likely not an eyewitness to the events of the nativity."
He explained: "If the Star’s story is based on a real historical event, then the author of Matthew presumably drew on a contemporary oral or written source.
"The question of Matthew’s authorship is a complex subject beyond the scope of this paper."
Astrophysicist Ralph Neuhäuser from Friedrich Schiller University Jena in Germany also suggested that the Chinese source may be inaccurate.
“The older the record, in general, the less information is left,” he told Scientific American.
Research astronomer Guy Consolmagno also agreed that 'there is way too little detail in the brief passage from St. Matthew’s Gospel that describes the Star to say anything definitive about it'.
"It might have been a miraculous event. It might have been any number of different astronomical events: a comet, a nova, a conjunction of planets," he wrote.
"It might have been a pious story that St. Matthew inserted into his Gospel to compare the birth of Jesus to the births of Roman Emperors, who used that kind of astrology to demonstrate their legitimacy.
"What’s more, the idea that 'Science' or 'Religion' can come up with some definitive answer is nonsense. If it could do that, we wouldn’t be asked this same infuriating question every year."
Anish Vij