So, what was the comet standing over Bethlehem at the time of Jesus' birth? Here we face an almost insurmountable problem - the exact date of birth of Jesus Christ.
Many may be surprised that, according to common opinion, the date of birth of Christ does not correspond to December 25, 1 AD. Almost all the researchers of the Bible agree that Jesus was born no later than 4 years BC, for the simple reason that the death of King Herod, in whose reign He was born, is dated exactly this year by a number of reliable sources. According to Luke's Gospel (2:2), Jesus' parents went to their hometown of Bethlehem to participate in a census conducted by the Romans to organize the tax collection in Judea. Thus Christmas is traditionally dated between 7 and 4 B.C. Although the Chinese chronicles mention two insignificant comets in heaven over the years, the Greek, Roman, and Babylonian sources remain silent - at least there is not even a hint of the majestic heavenly phenomenon described by St. Matthew.
Since such a chronology excluded the comet from the list of explanations, a number of other attempts were made to explain the astronomical explanation of the Bethlehem star. Meteors and new stars turned out to be bad candidates, as their appearance is completely unpredictable. The appearance of a new star - Quite a rare phenomenon, which occurs about once in several centuries. In the time interval adopted for the birth of Christ, there is one bright new star, which is mentioned in the Chinese astronomical records, but it did not attract attention in the Greco-Roman world.
Therefore, the favorite activity of interpreters was the search for the special location of the planets, on which the astrologers among the Magi could read their "signs". One of the celestial phenomena that have always been of interest to astrologers is the astronomical connection of the planets. It occurs when two or several planets from the point of view of the earthly observer converge very closely with each other, sometimes even merging into one whole and creating an impression of a bright "star". Could the Bethlehem star have been the result of an astronomical connection?
The possibility of such a connection was first proposed by Johann Kepler (1571-1630), a great mathematician and mystic, whose study of planetary orbits made him one of the founding fathers of modern astronomy. On the night of December 17, 1603 Kepler used his primitive telescope for careful observation of the movements of Jupiter and Saturn, approaching the point of astronomical compound (soon after that, joined them and Mars). And two years later, Kepler observed a supernova that broke out in the constellation of the Snake-bearer.
However, Kepler proceeded from the fact that the magi, directed to Judea by the astronomical connection of planets, could observe the appearance of a supernova, shining in the sky, when they approached Bethlehem.
Calculations of Kepler showed that such connection should take place in 7 B.C. He has come to a conclusion that it was date of Immaculate Conception, and Christmas has taken place in 6 B.C. From an astrological point of view, this conclusion was well grounded. Jupiter was traditionally considered a reigning planet, and according to the Roman authors, Saturn was a planetary deity, which the Jews revered under the name of Jehovah.
Modern research has confirmed the accuracy of the ancient Babylonian predictions. Astronomer David Hughes, despite everything, inclines to a modified version of Kepler's theory of astronomical compound. However, after the application of modern methods to calculate the movements of Jupiter and Saturn in 7-6 years BC, even Hujess had to admit:
"Although the astronomical compound of Saturn and Jupiter best corresponds to the characteristics of the Bethlehem star, and, in my opinion, leads the list of probable candidates, the fact that these planets have never been observed as "one star", leaves a sense of uncertainty ... Their closest proximity was 0.98 degrees, which, strictly speaking, is not a complete combination.
Other experts in ancient astronomy, less sensitive in this matter, rejected the theory of "astronomical compound" in 7 BC. Among the new ideas belongs the original hypothesis of Roger Sinnot, who dates the death of Herod to the 1st year B.C. and correlates the Bethlehem star to the colorful parade of astronomical compounds of the planets in the period between 3 and 2 years B.C. But even if to leave aside impossibility of similar transfer of death of tsar Herod, the Sinnot's hypothesis suffers the same weaknesses as other theories of astronomical connection: no matter how close to each other there were heavenly bodies, they do not form the whole "star". Again, all sorts of attractive hypotheses are faced with the same difficulties, and the most obvious solution proposed by Origen 1600 years ago, dusty in oblivion, patiently waiting for his hour.