A well-known Christmas carol begins, "We three kings of Orient are ..." It speaks of the wise men, also called Magi, who followed a star from the East to Bethlehem where they found the Christ child, brought him gifts and honored him. See Matt. 2:1–12 .
Astronomers and scholars have given a lot of thought to what star this might have been and when the event occurred. Some have proposed that the star may have been a meteor or a comet. Others argue that the Magi, who were probably skilled sky-watchers, had noticed the conjunction of Jupiter with Saturn in 7 BC, or a conjunction of other planets.
Others believe that the Bethlehem star was a special, supernatural event created by God to herald Jesus' birth.
