Was the ‘Star of Bethlehem’ an intergalactic interloper like 1I/Oumuamua (2017) or 2I/Borisov (2019) or 3I/ATLAS (2025)? While the Biblical text doesn’t shed light (no pun intended) on the astronomical event associated with the bunch of wise men from east visiting the house of ‘King of the Jews,’ there have been some wild speculations on what the star could have been that led the magi to the savior’s doorstep.
Some conjectures, like the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn or Jupiter and Venus, have been floating for a while now. The idea of a star being a supernova or comet has also been around. For the faithful, though, the details don’t really matter but that didn’t stop a few men of science from crunching some numbers.
Johannes Kepler | 1614
The German polemic renowned for laws of planetary motion estimated that in the year 7 BC Jupiter and Saturn aligned in conjunction. He incorrectly assumed that this event caused a bright nova in the sky.
Karlis Kaufmanis | 1972
Professor of astronomy at the University of Minnesota, Dr. Karlis Kaufmanis, in the early 20th century argued that there were multiple astronomical events that formed the ‘Star of Bethlehem.’ It was “where Jupiter, the King star, and Saturn, the star of the Messiah, appeared together in the constellation Pisces, or Fish, known to astrologers as the House of the Hebrews, in the eastern sky at sunrise, or at the heliacal rising.”
Colin Nicol | 2015
Professor of New Testament at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary has theorized that the star could have been a comet, labeling it “The Great Christ Comet” that possibly appeared in 6 BC.
Mark Matney | 2025
Amid all the hypotheses, NASA scientist Mark Matney’s stand out. In his recently published paper at the British Astronomical Association, he argues (in abstract) that his paper
introduces a comet candidate to explain the Star that the Magi associated with the birth of Jesus as described in the biblical book of Matthew. By utilizing observations of a comet recorded in Chinese annals in 5 BCE, a novel numerical technique was used to compute an orbit for this comet that could have passed very close to Earth in early June of 5 BCE, exhibiting ‘temporary geosynchronous’ motion.
This is the first astronomical candidate for the Star ever identified that could have had apparent motion corresponding to the description in Matthew, where the Star ‘went before’ the Magi on their journey to Bethlehem until it ‘stood over’ where the child Jesus was.
He adds
The study also examines how the Magi may have been influenced by ancient beliefs about comets, as described in Greco-Roman astrological writings, contemporary cuneiform omen texts, and the belief system of astrological geography. There is also a discussion of how this comet candidate corresponds to the chronology of the events surrounding Jesus’ birth.
You can read the open access paper here.
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Meanwhile for those interested in the source file, here’re the verses narrating how the event unfolded from the Gospel of Matthew 2:1-12
In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising and have come to pay him homage.”[15] When King Herod heard this, he was frightened and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet: ‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people Israel.'” Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.” When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary, his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another path.
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