Was the Star of Bethlehem a Comet or a Meteor?
Astronomically speaking, what was the Star of Bethlehem? Maybe the first estimation put forward was that it was an unusually bright fireball meteor seen streaking toward the apparent horizon. But as virtually skywatchers recognize, such an object can be discovered to flash across the sky in a mere matter of seconds barely long enough to lead the Magi halfway across the Orient to the little town of Bethlehem. So we can confidently dismiss this concept.
Not so easily dismissed, however, is the possibility that the Star was a colorful comet. Comets can continue to be visible to the unaided eye for weeks either in the pre-dawn sky or at twilight. It is not inconceivable to conceptualize that a comet with a shiny star-like head and long gossamer tail pointing like some cosmic finger toward the skyline could have guided the Magi to Bethlehem. The famous Halley’s Comet, last seen in early 1986, also burst out in the sky during August and September in the year 11 BC. However, most authorities dismiss it due to the poor time fit. Although it appears improbable that another great comet could have shown up nearer to the given time frame of the Stars appearance and went unrecorded, we can never really be confident.
Besides, comets were viewed as presages of evil, such as earthquakes and famine as well as the end not the birth of kings and monarchs. The Romans, in marking the death of the Roman General Agrippa, for example, used the 11 BC arrival of Halley’s Comet as a benchmark. With this in mind, comets would seem to be inaccurate as the heavenly sign that would signal the approaching of a newborn king.