The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1894-11-15
The STAR OF bethlehem
Guiding Light of the Wise Men May
Again Appear.
MAS DUE SEVERAL YEARS AGO
The opinion of a Celebrated Astronomer
upon the Mysterious star That May
Have Existed Only in an Oriental
Fairy Tale-Was 1t Comet?

Cammille Flammaron, in Deutsch Revue.
Some time ago various newspapers
of Europe and America contained the
startling intelligence that the star
which guided the wise Men would
again appear This star was connect
ed with that celebrated one which, 3lS
years ago, suddenly disappeared from
the cOnstella ton of CassiOpeia, and 1t
was found that this star of 1872 had
previously appeared in the years 1864
and 954, and, if counted back, must
have appeared in the year of the birth
/ of Christ. IF these facts Were well cs-
tablished, we must certainly expect the
star to appear again in our days. We
should then see a new body in the heav-
ems, entirely unlike any fixed star, to be
seen in full daylight, which would in
a short time again disappear. Every
astronomer in recent times has asked
hundreds of questions on this subject.
Is it true that the Star Of Bethlehem
will again appear? Is it periodical? Is
its place in the sky appointed? The
next question is, What really happened
in 1872?
TWAS q few nights after st. Fidrth0lo-
news Night, Tycho Brahc. the great
observer of those days tells us that:
| zone evening, as / was watching the
heavens in my accustomed manner, |
saw, to my great astonishment, in the
constellation of Casslopeia, G brilliant
star of unusual clearness." This was
on Nov. II, 1872. Three days before the
star had been seen by Cornelius
Gemma, who spoke of 1t as this new
/ Venus" In December of the same year
its lustre began to wane; and i'll March,
1914. il had entirely disappeared, leav-
ing no trace. As to the stars OF 940 and
/ 1864. we have no authority except that
of the Bohemian astrologer Cyprian
| Lowitz. No historian mentions them,
and the Chinese chronclers who
watched all appearances in the sky
with great care. do not speak of them.
| Even granting the appearance of these
stars To have been a fact, their resem-
/ blancc to the Star of Bethlehem Is
| doubtful. il Is true that by counting
| back we come to the years $50, 80, and
/ 0; but the star should have again ap-
/ peared some time between 1880 ANA 1891.
Was II Fairy Tale?
With regard to the Star of Bethle-
hem there are five assumptions: d.
1t had no existence, and the entire
statement is n beautiful fairy tale. t2.)
( The fixed star seen by the Wise Men,
was Venus. at the time Of its greatest
splendor. 60 1t was a periodical star
like that of 1872. a. The phenomenon
was occasioned by a conjunction OF
planets (jJ II was Il comet. or these
assumptions the most probable is the
second. That it was a periodical stan
is scarcely likely, for Ptolemy and Ma
tuan-lin would have spoken of it, The
fourth statement was suggested IN lS2t
by the German astronomer ldeler ano
repeated by Encke in 1881. In the yeal
3 B. C. there We're conjunctions Of tho
planets jupiter, Mars, and Saturn on
May 29, Sept. 3. and Dec. ). but on mons
of these days We're the planets nearer
together than q degree, SO that The
Wise Men must have been very near
sighted to take them for one star. The
iifth ASSUMPTION is also not TO be CON
sidered, for people already knew how
to distinguish Il comet from other stars
and besides, we have no knowledge ol
a comet at that time. For all these
reasons we have not the least occasion
to expect the return of the Star OF Beth
lehem at the close of our century. Ant
even if such Il star should appear, i
would simply be the twenty-siXth suci
case observed in historical times. ant