Starry, starry night

Is the star of Bethlehem -- described in the New Testament’s Gospel of Matthew as guiding the magi to Jesus in Bethlehem -- fact or myth? Frederick A. Larson, an intellectual property solo in College Station, says the existence of the star of Bethlehem is an astronomical fact, and he has created a video presentation to prove it. Larson says he has spent more than a decade researching the history of the star and combing the Gospel of Matthew “for every shred of evidence.” He says he has correlated the information culled from the gospel, such as Matthew's reference to the star as one that rose in the east and endured over time, with a software program that recreates the position and movement of celestial bodies on any night. A Web site has more details about Larson’s findings as well as his speaking schedule at various churches. Larson says he shows the audience via computer model what the sky looked like more than 2,000 years ago: “I reproduce those night skies for them to see,” he says, “the same skies the magi saw.” Over the centuries, there have been numerous theories about the possible celestial events that could have produced something like what Matthew described. Larson says his presentation builds on the planetary motion laws proposed by German astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler during the 17th century. Kepler determined that a series of conjunctions -- occuring when celestial bodies are at the same celestial longitude -- during 6 B.C. of the planets Jupiter and Saturn could have created the astronomical event known as the star of Bethlehem. Larson argues that the event occurred during April of 2 B.C. with the conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Venus, the star Regulus and a new moon. Larson says the conjunction would have appeared as the brightest star ever seen. “I believe the actual event matches the events described in Matthew,” Larson says. “For me, personally, that means the star was real.”
-- Jeanne Graham