One possible astronomical explanation of the Star of Bethlehem is that it was a nova or supernova outburst: a new star blazes forth where none had ever been witnessed and leaves no trace for us to find in the future. Although their names connote a new creation, these magnificent objects are in reality moribund stars, although they are new (albeit temporary) additions to the nighttime sky. The appearance of a nova is fitful a really bright one becomes obtainable perhaps once every 25 or 30 years.

Going on this presumption, we actually should be due for a bright naked-eye nova at about anytime now, since the most recent one presented back in 1975 (not far from the auspicious star Deneb in the constellation Cygnus).

Most magnificent novae suddenly and unexpectedly flare into prominence literally overnight, diverting the instant attention of sky-conscious people. But after a prolific number of days or weeks of such prominence, it gradually regresses back to obscurity. Even more impressive but much less common are supernovae; stars that suddenly disintegrate themselves completely apart, briefly producing a marvellous energy output equivalent to the combined light of an entire galaxy of stars.

At the peak of its blowup, a supernova can shine with a brilliance capable of dropping shadows and can even be seen in broad daylight truly a heavenly announcement worthy of the birth of a king.

In our Milky Way galaxy, the erstwhile thousand years, there have been four stunning supernovae, in 1006, 1054, 1572 and 1604. Most probably, we are long for another, though the stars don’t needfully play by any odds we might calculate.

A historical hypothesis says that the star of Bethlehem was a supernova or hypernova occurring in the nearby Andromeda Galaxy. Although supernovae have been noticed in Andromeda, it is extraordinarily difficult to discover a supernova remnant in another galaxy, let alone find an accurate date of when it happened.

Although a nova or supernova is the most passable explanation for the Star, there is a primary problem with it, in that there doesn’t seem to be any standard record of a bright nova appearing in the sky during the time that biblical historians conceive the Magi made their journey.