Sometimes an old story can be refreshed with a new perspective, even one from far out in the galaxy.
That’s what Grant Mathews, director of the Center for Astrophysics at Notre Dame, figured when he decided to use his expertise to see if he could identify the star of Bethlehem that the Bible says announced the birth of Jesus.
“I’m an astrophysicist, so people see things in the sky, and I make models that explain them,” Mathews says. “It’s Christmastime, and here’s this astronomical event that’s been recorded, and I decided to just look at it as a scientific question.”