A Brighter Christmas, A Darker Future?

Even though Christmas has passed, the festive spirit lingers here in Fuerteventura! Our Christmas tree remains proudly displayed, twinkling with lights. And the celebrations continue, as we eagerly await the arrival of the Three Kings on Dia de Reyes.

Christmas lights! They transform our neighborhoods into twinkling wonderlands, casting a festive glow on the season. But as we string up those dazzling displays, it's worth considering the potential impact of our holiday cheer.

The dazzling spectacle of Christmas lights comes at a cost, not just to our wallets (though those energy bills can certainly add up!), but to the environment and even our own health.

The sheer volume of holiday lights creates a blanket of artificial light, washing out the stars and disrupting the natural night sky. This "light pollution" isn't just a nuisance for astronomers and stargazers. It confuses wildlife, disrupts their natural rhythms, and can even harm their delicate ecosystems. Imagine a tiny insect drawn to a brilliant streetlight, circling and circling until it's exhausted and disoriented. Or picture a migrating bird, its natural navigation severely impacted by the city's glow, losing its way and struggling to find its destination.

Furthermore, all that artificial light at night can wreak havoc on our sleep cycles. It becomes harder to fall asleep, sleep quality suffers, and individuals often wake up feeling groggy and unrefreshed. This can lead to mood swings, difficulty concentrating, and even serious health problems down the line.

So, what can we do? Can we still enjoy the magic of the season without sacrificing our environment and our well-being? Absolutely! Here are a few simple steps individuals can take:

• Embrace energy-efficient LEDs: They use less energy and produce less heat, making them a much greener choice.

• Embrace timers: Set timers to automatically turn off lights when individuals are asleep or away from home.

• Shield your lights: Direct the light downwards to minimize light pollution and reduce glare.

• Choose warm-colored lights: They're less disruptive to wildlife and create a more cozy, festive atmosphere.

• Support your local "Dark Sky" initiatives: Join a local organization or participate in community events that raise awareness about the importance of preserving the night sky.

This holiday season, let's make a conscious effort to be more mindful of our lighting choices. By making small adjustments, we can create a brighter Christmas for everyone while ensuring a sustainable future for generations to come.

The star of Bethlehem and the Three Kings

The Christmas story often brings to mind the tale of three wise men guided by a celestial light to the birthplace of Jesus Christ. Scientists have proposed various explanations for this "Star of Bethlehem."

It must be remembered that the Chaldeans who occupied Mesopotamia 2,000 years ago were assiduous observers of the night sky and were very familiar with the motions of the sun, moon and planets. The three kings were religious scholars known as the Magi - revered Babylonian astronomers and astrologists. They studied the stars and planets, interpreting the meaning behind cosmic events. Anything very unusual was considered an omen, so the star must have been both rare and visually spectacular, and if something very rare took place in the sky, the ancient skywatchers would have noticed it immediately.

After countless reading of articles i’ve summarised a few to ponder over:

• This year, on August 27th, we witnessed a remarkable celestial event: a very close encounter between Venus and Jupiter. The two brightest planets appeared to almost touch each other in the night sky. Such a close alignment is a rare occurrence, and a similar event may have taken place over 2,000 years ago.

  The biblical story of the Star of Bethlehem intriguingly mentions two separate celestial events. One marked the beginning of the Magi's journey, while the other guided them to Bethlehem.

  Interestingly, in 3 BC, Venus and Jupiter were prominent in the pre-dawn eastern sky. On August 12th of that year, they came incredibly close, appearing only 9 arc minutes apart from the perspective of the Middle East. This would have been visible to people "in the east," as mentioned in the Book of Matthew.

  Ten months later, in June 2 BC, the two planets had another, even more spectacular conjunction. At sunset from Babylonia, they were separated by a mere 4 arc minutes, shining brightly in the western sky. As darkness fell, they drew closer together until they appeared to merge into a single, extremely bright "star."

  This historical celestial event has led some to speculate that it could be the explanation for the Star of Bethlehem. The close alignment of Venus and Jupiter, particularly the dramatic conjunction in 2 BC, would have been a striking and unforgettable sight.

• The other theory is that the star of Bethlehem was probably not a star at all, and that it was more than one single event.  Astronomer-astrologers reported omens to the king; these were anything unusual - perhaps the moon moving in front of a planet, or a lunar eclipse. Their job was to interpret the meaning of these phenomena. There was also an elite class of diviners who created nativity charts. They recorded the positions of the planets, the Sun, the Moon and other astronomical data at the time of a child's birth, in order to make predictions about that person's life.  Some believe that the wise men from the East, or the "Magi" of the nativity, were astrologers from Mesopotamia, and that the star rising in the east was the horoscope that predicted the birth of a king. If so, they were reading a nativity chart in reverse; they had the prediction and sought to find the child who had been born at that precise moment.

• Best explanation for this series of events is something known as a triple conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn - with the two planets coming close together in the sky three times over a short period. This happens when] you get an alignment between the Sun, the Earth, Jupiter and Saturn.  Tim O'Brien, associate director of Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire, suggests this would have looked striking. "It's remarkable how much your attention is drawn when two very bright objects come together in the sky," he explains.And once the planets lined up in their orbits, Earth would "overtake" the others, meaning that Jupiter and Saturn would appear to change direction in the night sky. "You would [only] get a triple conjunction like this about every 900 years," he says, so for astronomers in Babylon 2,000 years ago, it would have been a signal of something very significant."A triple conjunction of this kind ticks all the boxes."

• Another theory suggests that a very bright comet could have been the Star of Bethlehem. While comets are often described as "dirty snowballs" traveling through space, they can be incredibly beautiful and awe-inspiring. As a comet approaches the Sun, its ice melts, and solar winds blow this material into space, creating a spectacular tail. This tail, always pointing away from the Sun, is one of the key characteristics that has made the comet theory popular.

  One of the most relevant historical records is the sighting of a bright comet in the constellation of Capricorn in 5 BC, documented by Chinese astronomers.

• A less likely, but well-known candidate is Halley's Comet, which was visible around 12 BC. Supporters of this theory point out that the 5 BC comet would have been in the southern sky as seen from Jerusalem, with the comet's head near the horizon and its tail pointing vertically upward.

• Another theory suggests that the Star of Bethlehem could have been the light from a newborn star, known as a nova. Chinese astronomers recorded a new star in the small, northern constellation of Aquila in 4 BC. Proponents of this theory argue that this nova would have been directly over Jerusalem. Dr. Robert Cockcroft, manager of the McCallion Planetarium at McMaster University in Ontario, considers a nova a "good candidate" for the Star of Bethlehem. 

From all us to you at StarsByNight, hope you have a fabulous holiday period!