The Star of Bethlehem

Plenty of new and old data about the night sky and more than a little ancient history inform Kidger's clear account of his own and others' theories about the portent that led the Magi to Judea. A researcher at Spain's Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, and a columnist for the Astronomer, Kidger steers meticulously to his own, admittedly speculative, answer, devoting several chapters to popular and once-popular accounts of the Star, discussing, among other theories, Halley's Comet (impossible), unusual meteors (nope), and supernovas (none took place in the right decade). Kidger regards Michael Molnar's version (explicated at length in Molnar's own book, reviewed below) as ""one of the most credible"" explanations, though he points out that Molnar's thesis doesn't translate into much for the Magi, or anyone else, to have seen. Kidger outlines ideas about the professions and origins of the Three Wise Men themselves, who (assuming they existed) may have been Zoroastrians from Persia or Babylonian Jews in exile. Drawing on Chinese astronomical records, Kidger concludes that the Magi set out for Judea when a 5 B.C. nova followed a special conjunction of planets in Pisces. An appendix describes the rest of the night sky as it probably looked from Bethlehem. 23 b&w illus. (Nov.)