Star of Bethlehem

====Comet====
Other writers highly suggest that the star was a [[comet]].<ref name="MarkKidger"/> [[Halley's Comet]] was visible in 12 BC and another object, possibly a comet or [[nova]], was seen by Chinese and Korean stargazers in about 5 BC.<ref name="MarkKidger"/><ref>Colin Humphreys, [http://www.asa3.org/ASA/topics/Astronomy-Cosmology/S&CB%2010-93Humphreys.html 'The Star of Bethlehem'], in ''Science and Christian Belief'' 5 (1995), 83–101.</ref> This object was observed for over seventy days, possibly with no movement recorded.<ref name="MarkKidger"/> Ancient writers described comets as "hanging over" specific cities, just as the Star of Bethlehem was said to have "stood over" the "place" where Jesus was (the town of Bethlehem).<ref name="Jenkins">{{cite news |last=Jenkins |first=R.M. |url=http://www.bristolastrosoc.org.uk/www/media/Publications_BAS_Documents/the_star_of_bethlehem.pdf |title=The Star of Bethlehem and the Comet of AD 66 |work=Journal of the British Astronomy Association |date=June 2004 |number=114 |pages=336–43 |access-date=2016-12-23 |archive-date=2018-10-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181005222753/http://www.bristolastrosoc.org.uk/www/media/Publications_BAS_Documents/the_star_of_bethlehem.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> However, this is generally thought unlikely as in ancient times comets were generally seen as bad omens.<ref>Mark Kidger, ''Astronomical Enigmas: Life on Mars, the Star of Bethlehem, and Other Milky Way Mysteries'', (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005), page 61.</ref> The comet explanation has been recently promoted by Colin Nicholl. His theory involves a hypothetical comet which could have appeared in 6 BC.<ref>Colin R. Nicholl. 2015. ''The Great Christ Comet: Revealing the True Star of Bethlehem.'' Crossway.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2015/december/what-kind-of-astronomical-marvel-was-star-of-bethlehem.html|title=What Kind of Astronomical Marvel was the Star of ... – Christianity Today|author=Interview Greg Cootsona|work=ChristianityToday.com|date=23 November 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/book-reviews-great-christ-comet-revealing-the-true-star-of-bethlehem|title=The Great Christ Comet: Revealing the True Star of Bethlehem|author=Guillermo Gonzalez|work=TGC – The Gospel Coalition|date=16 June 2017 }}</ref>