If you are in the Leinster area try to get to Astronomy Ireland's 2003 Christmas Lecture on Monday December 8 This year no expense is being spare to bring in Prof David Hughes from the U.K. to explain: "The Star of Bethlehem Mystery" If 'the Christmas Star' was an astronomical phenomenon what might it have been? And can this tie down Christ's birth date once and for all? The Christian Church teaches its priests that Christ was born in the years around 6 B.C. (for good historical reasons). It also teaches that December 25 is NOT the birth date of Christ, it's only an arbitrary date on which to celebrate Christ's birth. Again, there were reasons for picking that date but it's important to note that the theory Prof Hughes proposes is not at odds with the Church in fact the Church is as interested as he is. So people like Prof Hughes have looked to clues in the Bible and other contemporary records to try to find out if anything interesting was going on in the skies in the years around 6 B.C.? Comets? New stars? Fireballs? Planets? etc. It's always possible that 'The Star' was just a miraculous object, or a story made up to illustrate a point, but it turns out that there was an extremely significant astrological event in 7 B.C. that stands out like a sore thumb and would have had astrologers ("Wise Men" of the time) looking for a Messiah! Just as the Bible records. The event was a conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn which came together 3 times in the constellation of Pisces (a once in over 800 year event). The final 'conjunction' was on September 15 in 7 B.C. and this is the most likely birth date of Christ, at least if 'The Star' in the Bible was an astronomical event. It's a remarkable story which Prof Hughes thoroughly researched and published in his book "The Star of Bethlehem Mystery" - a brilliant read, if you can get your hands on a copy as it is, sadly, out of print. It's a brilliant piece of astronomical and historical detective work. However, Prof Hughes video documentary is still available and it explains the basic facts. In it, Prof Hughes is in Bethlehem on the exact 2,000th anniversary of Christ's birth (15 Sept 1994) but there are no celebrations, only a brief mention of Hughes' theory that that was the correct date for the millennium celebrations. Fascinating. You can still get a copy of this video "The Christmas Star" from our Shop and copies will be on sale at the Christmas Lecture for 20euro. The Astronomy Ireland 2003 Christmas Lecture is in Dublin City University in the Henry Grattan Building at 8pm (next to The Helix). Everyone is welcome so please bring friends. Admission 5euro. TV3 - if you are/were up at 7:45am Monday you may have seen me on TV3 talking about the lecture and the Christmas Star. They may re-show it on their "Best of Ireland AM" on Saturday or Sunday morning. IRELAND ON SUNDAY (Dec. 7) did nearly full page a piece on page 35. Quite a few misquotes but the basic facts are there. P.S. Don't forget the International Space Station is visible every evening until Friday Dec. 12. Call 1550-111-442 each afternoon to get the time to see it when it flies over after sunset. Calls cost 74c/min (in N.Ireland and Britain call 09001-88-1950). Please forward this message to everyone you think may be interested! ===== David Moore BSc FRAS, Chairman, Astronomy Ireland, P.O.Box 2888, Dublin 5. Editor, "Astronomy & Space" magazine. ASTRONOMY SHOP: open until 6pm Mon.-Sat. (Ireland's BIGGEST telescope showrooms) Tel (01) 847 0777. Fax (01) 847 0771. www.astronomy.ie (Subscribe FREE to AI's emailing list) Email: info@astronomy.ie