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Space
Space
Science
Keith Cooper

Could the Star of Bethlehem have actually been a comet?

Jesus Earth Bethlehem Ai Herod
A bright star twinkles in a deep blue night sky.

Could the Star of Bethlehem, which guided the 'three wise men' to the infant Jesus in the Christian Bible, have been a comet that came as close to the Earth as the moon?

That's the remarkable hypothesis from Mark Matney, a planetary scientist in NASA's Orbital Debris Program Office by day and a self-declared Christmas junkie. "I love Christmas," Matney told Space.com. "I love Christmas music, I love Christmas decorations — I love the whole thing!"

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