page_title: The Star of Bethlehem (2007 film)
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: The Star of Bethlehem (2007 film) / Background
caption_attribution_description: English: Diagram explaining the apparent retrograde motion of an outer planet as seen from Earth, in this case Mars. Ελληνικά: Διάγραμμα που εξηγεί την ανάδρομη κίνηση ενός εξωτερικού πλανήτη όπως φαίνεται από τη Γη, εδώ του Άρη. English: Retrograde motion of Mars
context_page_description: The Star of Bethlehem is a 2007 documentary by Frederick A. "Rick" Larson to show what he found when he searched for clues about the Star of Bethlehem. Larson used the Starry Night astronomy computer program along with an article written by astronomer Craig Chester; based in part on the work of Ernest Martin. Larson also used details from the Christian Bible to find nine data points about the Star of Bethlehem which, according to the second chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, stopped over Bethlehem, bringing the Magi to Jesus.
context_section_description: Larson's interest in the Star of Bethlehem began when he needed to make a Christmas Star to accompany his Magi lawn ornaments he had made to be Christmas decorations, but did not know what the Star of Bethlehem was and needed to learn more.
  As a lawyer, Larson examined the text of Matthew, finding nine pieces of evidence in the nativity passage. The Star’s nine data points are that it signified birth, it signified kingship, it was related to the Jewish nation, and it "rose in the East"; it was not known to Herod the Great; it appeared at a specific time; it endured over time; it was before the Magi as they traveled south to Bethlehem from Jerusalem, and then, according to the Bible, it stopped over the city of Bethlehem.
  Using astronomy software to return to the skies over Judea by using Johannes Kepler's math to calculate positions of celestial objects, Larson thinks he found all nine elements found in the book of Matthew. He also believes that the Star of Bethlehem, is Jupiter, a wandering star, and it stopped over Bethlehem during its retrograde motion on December 25, 2 BC.> Larson believes King Herod the Great died in 1 BC, although almost all other experts, including astronomer David Hughes and astronomer Michael Molnar, believe Herod died in 4 BC. (In Molnar's book,  The Star of Bethlehem: The Legacy of the Magi, he documents Jesus' birth as Saturday [Sabbath] April 17, 6 BC due to a triple conjunction in Aries.)
   
  Once Larson found what he thinks is the time of Jesus Christ's birth, he looked for signs appearing in the heavens at possible times that fit the Passover, and believes the date of the Christ's (Messiah's) crucifixion was April 3, 33 AD on the Gregorian calendar. He also thinks he found astronomical phenomena related to a vision in the Book of Revelation.
caption: The Star of Bethlehem suggests the Star stood over Bethlehem in its retrograde motion.[19][21] As earth overtakes other planets as it orbits, they appear to loop backwards. The planet Mars here shows this looping motion.
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