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I have captured this series of photographs for La Vanguardia’s Readers’ Photos in the town of Tarròs, in the Urgell region. The protagonist is the star of a Christmas tree, capable of eclipsing the sun, as seen in this image taken with the reflex camera configuration as a portrait.
The star that is usually placed on top of the Christmas tree represents the “Star of Bethlehem” which, according to Catholic tradition, was the star that guided the Three Wise Men to the birthplace of Jesus.
The Gospel of Matthew mentions that the Magi saw the Star of Bethlehem appear in the east. In this way, their majesties were able to reach their destination to be able to offer the newborn child their offerings. In a way, the Star of Bethlehem would be like the GPS of that time.
The first natural explanation of this phenomenon is due to the German astronomer Johannes Kepler in 1614. He determined that a series of three conjunctions of the planets Jupiter and Saturn (a very rare event) occurred in the year 7 BC. C. and related this fact to the star of Bethlehem.
More recently, astronomer Michael R. Molnar identified a double occultation of Jupiter behind the moon in 6 BC. C. in Aries as the star of Bethlehem.
There are other hypotheses. At that time the Star of Bethlehem may have been associated with the North Star. If they came from Babylon, they could have associated it with the planet Saturn (Kaiwanu). It could also be the star Sirius: Alpha Canis Maioris, the brightest star in the entire night sky as seen from Earth, located in the southern celestial hemisphere constellation Canis Maior.
