Several months ago during an astronomy event at High Bridge Trail State Park, I pointed out some of the sights overhead. I retold a couple of ancient stories associated with some of the constellations, and I mentioned the names of some of the sky’s brightest stars. Afterward, a park visitor approached and asked if I would please also indicate which one was the Star of Bethlehem, the star that directed the Magi to the stable where Jesus was born.

According to the second chapter of Matthew’s gospel, wise men saw a certain star, and by its rising they realized a king of the Jewish people had been born. Guided by the star, they ultimately came to a place where they found the child and his mother. After bestowing gifts, they departed.

Exactly what the Magi saw and followed remains a mystery, yet theories abound.

One suggestion is that the Star of Bethlehem was actually a comet. There are many different kinds of comets. Periodic comets, also known as short-term comets, are perhaps the best known because their orbits bring them into view on a regular schedule. Halley’s Comet, for example, shows up every 76 years. Long-period comets, on the other hand, can take millions of years to complete a single orbit. Hyperbolic comets may pass through the inner solar system only once. After that single visit, the sun’s gravitational force hurls the comet into the vastness of interstellar space. Sun-grazing comets have orbits that take them perilously close to the sun. Sometimes they survive the solar encounter, and sometimes they do not.

Comets also present a wide variety of appearances. History records several notable comets that were sufficiently bright to be seen by day. Although none have been that bright in recent decades, there have been a few that put on respectable nighttime displays. They could be seen by almost anyone who cared to look up. Other comets have been dimmer, and spotting them required a trained eye or optical aids.

So far, attempts to match the timing of a known, short-term comet with the appearance of the Star have been unsuccessful, but the number of other comet candidates is virtually endless. Maybe the Magi saw a long-period comet, a hyperbolic comet, a comet that no longer exists, or a comet that was not apparent to untrained eyes. Perhaps. But there are other possible explanations.

Some people speculate that the Star of Bethlehem might have been a supernova. When stars of certain sizes reach the ends of their lifespans, they explode. During the explosion, the light emitted increases by fantastic amounts. The appearances of supernovae are unpredictable. The last supernova recorded in our galaxy occurred during the early seventeenth century. At its peak, it reached a brightness that surpassed that of all the other stars in the sky and rivaled Jupiter (the second brightest of the planets).

Other theories relate to planetary conjunctions, times when the planets seem close together from an earth-bound perspective. And some people speculate that the Star of Bethlehem referred to the position of just one of the planets as it moved through a special area of the sky. Planets that are farther away from the sun than the earth orbit the sun more slowly than the earth. Because of this, when the earth’s orbit passes them, their motion seems to periodically pause and even go backwards for a time. This seems to fit the part of the gospel account telling about the Star coming to rest.

Yet another theory proposes that the Star of Bethlehem wasn’t a natural occurring celestial light at all, but that it was placed temporarily in the sky and moved supernaturally according to God’s plan. Still others say the Star was a metaphor for the guidance that comes to all who seek.

In the end, my laser pointer proved inadequate for the task of identifying a specific light as the Star of Bethlehem. I couldn’t tell my questioner, “There it is.” But, for me, this isn’t a problem. Although I can’t say exactly what light led the wise men, I understand that God is the source of all light, and all the stars belong to God.

KAREN BELLeNIR a Farmville resident since 2009, blogs for Pier Perspectives at PierPress.com and maintains an archive of past columns at www.KarenBellenir.com. She also serves as editorial director for Wordwright LLC, a company that provides services to authors, publishers, and other producers of print and electronic publications (www.Wordwrightllc.com).