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Conjunction of planets, Dec. 24, 2013. NASA

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Kudos to Spaceweather.com for its topical coverage of NASA. The popular website noticed that the space agency's STEREO-B satellite, which is on the far side of the sun, had taken a photo of a planetary conjunction that serves as a great talking point about the Star of Bethlehem. To Christians, the star guided the Three Wise Men to baby Jesus. Scholars have long debated whether a star was involved at all. Some scholars, particularly astronomers, says the light may have been from the conjunction of Jupiter and Venus. NASA raised the issue anew on Tuesday, showing another possibility: the conjunction of Earth, Venus and Jupiter.

Spaceweather says, "From STEREO-B's point of view, Earth and Jupiter are less than 0.4 degrees apart, while all three planets fit in a circle 2 degrees in diameter. This meeting is not nearly as tight as the putative Star of Bethlehem conjunction ~2000 years ago. At that time Venus and Jupiter could have been as little as 6 arcseconds (0.00166 degrees) apart. Nevertheless, the ongoing display is still special because it's the first "Christmas Star conjunction" from space. Happy Holidays from STEREO!"

Quelle: The San Diego Union-Tribune