The Christmas Star, Novae, and Pulsars

Volume 13 number 1 (1984)

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Dorrit Hoffleit
Yale University

Abstract

A ceiling painting in the Priscilla catacomb in Rome appears to represent a star map showing the Christmas Star. If so, this might be a portrait of the nova or comet of 5 B. C., or it could be Venus in 6 B. C. It could not represent the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in 7 B. C., which occurred in a different part of the sky.