Story of the Star

Recommended for
Lower Elementary and thru College

NOTE
This program available during December only.

"Story of the Star" is a special program for the holiday season. The program is narrated by a kindly grandfather who reminisces about the joy and beauty of the holidays. He begins with part of Clement Moore's "The Night before Christmas", and proceeds to explore a diversity of Christmas symbols, such as mistletoe, the Christmas tree, and candles. He tells of the significance of the Menorah. After exploring the winter night sky, the narrator introduces the Biblical Christmas story.

Our program then uses historical and astronomical events in an attempt to establish the month and year of Christ's birth. The conclusion drawn is that two time periods are possible since there is no agreement on which of two lunar eclipses marked the death of Herod. The narrator points out that the later of the two eclipses seems to be gaining in acceptance.

Next, the audience is relocated, both on the surface of the earth and in time, to view the skies over Bethlehem in the early B.C. years. This section includes an explanation of the earth's motions in space. A variety of possible explanations for the star of Bethlehem are explored, including bright meteors, comets, novas, and conjunctions of planets and bright stars. The final identification of the star of Bethlehem is left "for each of us to decide for ourselves."