Join Somers Library for a very popular program dealing with what is perhaps the most famous astronomical event in all history – the Star of Bethlehem. What occurred in the skies of that time which might have lived on through the centuries as the Christmas Star? Was it a supernatural phenomenon, or was it a natural astronomical occurrence; a function of the inexorable laws of physics, appearing in the night skies at the time of the Nazarene’s birth? Modern astronomy has an explanation – or rather, several possible explanations.
In this PowerPoint lecture, Joe Rao, an Associate and guest lecturer at New York’s Hayden Planetarium, explores the many fascinating possibilities. Could it have been a dazzling fireball meteor? A spectacular comet? An exploding star or nova? Or perhaps a rare and unusual configuration of the planets? All the evidence of history and modern astronomy is woven into the answer to create a different kind of Christmas story . . . just in time for the holiday season.
This is a shared program with Hendrick Hudson Free Library, Somers Library and Bedford Hills Free Library.