gestion concerning this cherished tradition of the Christian faith. This research has involved investigation of the nationality and even the personality of one who could be called a Wise Man, and many translations of the story have been consulted in the attempt to arrive at unadulterated meanings of the words that are used.
The evidence of the astronomers and of the Gospel itself is really quite clear in indicating that the commonly accepted interpretation of a brilliant, blazing star must be in error. But there was something in the sky that, to those who are called the Wise Men, would have been received as an omen of an important event.
During December for the past several years, it has been our custom in the Fels Planetarium to turn time back through almost 2000 years to reproduce the skies for the period preceding and following the birth of Jesus. By combining the Scriptural story with the established historical and cultural background of the period, we are able to arrive at an answer not only to the question of what was the star of Bethlehem, but also to the far more important question of the date of the birth of Jesus. He was born in the spring of the year 6 B.C. according to the interpretation which is used by the astronomers of the Fels Planetarium.
Following the scientific presentation, the traditional story of the Holy Night and of the arrival of the Wise Men in Bethlehem will be told in Scriptural readings, familiar music, tableaux and interpretative lighting effects.
Other special demonstrations are also under consideration, but each month a newly designed presentation of some phase of astronomy is given. For those who want to know how the calendar we now use has come into being, the January, 1949, demonstration is recommended. Those who attend the "Story of the Calendar" showings will also hear a recommendation for an improved calendar which will preserve the best of what we now have and will eliminate the factors which trouble us from year to year. The February demonstration will tell our visitors how to identify and how to increase their enjoyment of the brilliant stars which stud our winter sky. Further plans for the 1949 program in the Fels Planetarium will be announced as they crystallize.