the first of December had barely arrived when I got our first request of the season for an interview about the star of Bethlehem. Of all the Frequently Asked Questions we get at the Vatican Observatory, that is certainly one of the most frequent … along with, “Why does the Vatican support an observatory?” and  “Would you baptise an extraterrestrial?” The star one is easy: we do not know what the star of Bethlehem was. We were not there. Whether it was a planetary conjunction, a miracle or a pious parable, ultimately the explan­ation does not matter. The real “star” of Matthew’s account is the person it leads us to. The star of Bethlehem is not why the Vatican supports an observatory. The true reason, however, is tied to Christmas.