Shining Star over Bethlehem

A proposition: The Bethlehem Star is Acrux from the Southern Cross.

A natural vantage point next to the Old City of Jerusalem is the Mount of Olives which is 80 meters higher than the old city. Bethlehem is about 10 kilometres south from Jerusalem. Looking south from the Mount of Olives to a star that was barely above the horizon would make the location of Bethlehem on the skyline a natural reference point.

Alpha Crucis (Acrux) of the Southern Cross is one of the the brightest stars in the night sky. It was visible before sunrise to the south of Jerusalem during a few weeks of the year in late November and early December about 2000 years ago. It is no longer visible in the southern night sky from Israel/Palestine due to axial precession. Some Astronomers of the time perhaps knew about the star and wanted to gain a better view of it.

Looking south from near Jerusalem, the Magi would have seen Acrux rise in the east and move to the west as it was not very high above the horizon. The star would have kept moving west until it was no longer visible due to the daylight from the rising sun. The star would have last been visible somewhere over Bethlehem – from the perspective of someone looking south from near Jerusalem during the few weeks in November and December about 2000 years ago. It would have appeared to have stopped BEING VISIBLE over Bethlehem from this perspective.

The Magi may have been astronomers who were specifically trying to gain a good view of this star, given that it would gradually disappear from view in their everyday vicinity due to axial precession. They continued travelling south to follow the star. Bethlehem is higher than Jerusalem and would have provided a better vantage point.

The meaning behind this explanation may not match the traditional meanings of the Bethlehem Star in Christianity. As a symbol, however, this new interpretation of the Bethlehem Star would provide a new meaning in the modern world and for a re-vitalised Christianity.

The star would have risen each year and would have been unremarkable, if it was not for the enthusiasm of the Magi who understood what they were looking for. The Southern Cross features in the night sky of the southern hemisphere.

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A previous post about the Bethlehem Star includes an animation of the stars to the south before sunrise. Click on image below to see the animation.

Software such as Stellarium and Cartes du Ciel (Skychart) can be easily used to verify these astronomical claims about Acrux. Google Maps shows that Bethlehem is about 10 kilometres to the south of Jerusalem. And Acrux is, indeed, a ‘star’.

Animation of Southern sky from Jerusalem from 3AM to 7.30AM in December, 6BC