Public Lectures for the Session 2002-2003 held in the Godlee Observatory, G Floor, Main Building, UMIST.
Delivered to the Manchester Astronomical Society

19th December 2002

Presidential Address
"The Star of Bethlehem''

Guy D. Duckworth BSc.(Hons.)
Manchester Astronomical Society

For two thousand years, the star of Bethlehem has remained one of the great, unsolved Yuletide mysteries. Mentioned in the New Testament, in the Gospel of St Matthew, v2, 7, 9 and 10, the story tells of the appearance in the sky above Bethlehem, about five miles SSW of Jerusalem, of a 'star', a herald of the birth of the Messiah. In the original Greek wording 'aster', implied one star, but this could also be interpreted as meaning constellation. The 'east' comes from the word 'anatole' and together a possible interpretation could be an eastern rising of a constellation or star.

The name Magi was from the same derivation as 'magic'. The wise men were probably astrologers. They would be familiar with the astronomy of the night sky and expert in its astrological interpretation. Several interpretations of the Gospel could be eliminated. It was unlikely to be a mythological event, a fabricated story by the Roman nobility, or a supernatural phenomenon. A comet could be ruled out; the Greek word, 'comites' was not used in the Gospel. This left two possibilities, a nova or supernova, or a planetary conjunction. The former was unlikely as it was not predictable the latter however was not only predictable but had astrological connotations and significantly important interpretation. In the 17th century, Johannes Kepler, then at Prague, calculated that a rare triple conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn occurred in 7BC.

Datable, historical events such as the death of Herod in 4BC, the reign of Augustus Caesar between 7BC and 1BC and the Jerusalem Census in 8BC and 3BC helped pinpoint a date. Having pointed out that the astrological zodiac, whose twelve 'houses' were equally spaced, was not quite the same as the astronomical zodiac with unequally sized constellations, Guy showed that a series of planetary conjunctions between 7BC and 3BC could have had important astrological significance to the Magi, but he put these into a novel context, that of harmonics.

The mathematical theory of harmonics explains audible musical sound scales - as he demonstrated with the aid of an electronic piano. Chladni Figures reveal the two-dimensional patterns of stationary nodes on vibrating membranes. Harmonics is used to explain the transfer of energy within the sun; the computation of wave functions in Fourier analysis and even - possibly- the large-scale structure of the universe. The fundamental harmonic of the universe contains all the higher harmonics within it. The possibility of all higher evolutes is already pre-programmed at this level. Guy postulated that it might be shown that planetary conjunctions were the solar system equivalents of harmonic nodes and this was why they may be deemed astrologically significant.

Of the planetary conjunctions discussed, and illustrated with computer simulations, Guy suggested that the triple conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn; at the end of May, early October and December 7BC were indeed the most significant. Jupiter was astrologically an outgoing, positive force whilst Saturn was its inwardly oppressive equal. They represented the father figure and the god of time. The Magi may have interpreted this as a gestation period. By the end of February 6BC, the nine-month standoff between these gods culminated in a conjunction of Jupiter, Saturn and Mars, the son. Was this evening conjunction, in the constellation of Pisces, the final episode of the Star of Bethlehem?

Synopsis by Kevin J. Kilburn (Secretary)

Maintained by Michael Oates
Page modified 28 October, 2006