After midnight Saturn will be high in the eastern sky and can be seen against the background of stars of Leo, the Lion. Regulus is the bright star that marks the Lion’s heart.

Around 3:00 a.m. Venus will rise in the east and will dominate the eastern sky until dawn.

On any clear night you can see a few “shooting” stars. Each shooting star is really a pebble sized matter burning up some 50 miles over your head. Showers of shooting "stars" are seen throughout the year. The best time to look for the meteors of a meteor shower is between midnight and dawn. The night of November 17-18th is the maximum for the Leonid meteor shower. With clear skies you may see some 40 meteors per hour. On the night of December 13-14th the Geminid meteor shower will reach its maximum with some 60 meteors per hour.

Every year at this time people ask astronomers if they know what was the star of stars, the star that lead the Wise Men to Bethlehem at the time of the birth of Jesus. Long ago people though of everything that they saw in the night sky as a "star". Thus, the planets, the "fixed" stars, meteors, comets, etc. all were "stars". So what might have been "The Star"? Meteors or shooting stars happen so quickly that if you see one, by the time you tell your friends to look, the flash will be gone. Certainly a meteor did not send the Wise Men to Bethlehem. Comets were well known, but were considered omens of bad tidings and thus a comet would not send the Wise Men in search of a great king. The fixed stars do not change from year to year, so they would not account for the search. For time to time a star may "explode" as a nova or supernova, and for a short time may even become visible in the daytime. But, our records show no "guest star" at the time of Christ's birth.

The Wise Men followed the motions of the planets as these "wandering stars" moved against the background of fixed stars, for they believed that the motions of these wandering stars could foretell the future. With their knowledge of the motions of the heavens they could calculate that Jupiter and Saturn would pass each other three times and then be joined by Mars. But, what of Herod and his advisors, why did they not see this "star"? Most of the event would not be visible because it would happen during the day. But, the Wise Men knew that it was happening. They knew that this event would take place in Pisces, the Fish, a star group that for them was symbolic of the Hebrews. Thus some great event would take place in the land of the Hebrews and the Wise Men were off on their search. Was this meeting of the planets really "The Star"? Astronomers do not know; the final decision is yours.