Deputy Editor Amanda Borschel-Dan is the host of The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, What Matters Now and Friday Focus podcasts and heads up The Times of Israel's features. Could the rare ...

According to the Gospel of Matthew, the Star of Bethlehem guided three Magi, or wise men, to Jerusalem over 2,000 years ago. After consulting with King Herod of Judea, the men followed the star to ...

the Star of Bethlehem. But did such a cosmic sight ever really exist? And if so, what does astronomical science tell us about what could have caused it? Interestingly, there’s some evidence that ...

Could the Star of Bethlehem have been caused by a “great conjunction” of the bright planets Venus and Jupiter? On June 17, 2 B.C., the planets had come so close they would have almost appeared ...

At Christmas, we remember the wise men who followed a star to Bethlehem. But what was the star? The Christmas star At Christmas time, people sometimes put a star on top of the Christmas tree.

Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. An award-winning reporter writing about stargazing and the night sky.

This documentary suggests it may have been Jupiter. The Star of Bethlehem (Mpower Pictures) is a fine Christian documentary chronicling Rick Larson’s use of contemporary astronomical software in ...

In Christian tradition, the "Star of Bethlehem" guided wise men to the site of Jesus' birth in Bethlehem more than two millennia ago. Now, viral social media posts are claiming stargazers can see ...

REFERRING to the hypothesis in your last week's issue, that the star of Bethlehem was Venus, I would point out that 1180 synodical periods of Venus (i.e. 1180 × 583.92 = 689,025 mean solar days ...

In late December 2022, social media users shared a copypasta post that claimed the "Star of Bethlehem" would shine shortly after sunset on Dec. 21 for the first time since the year 1226.