Hi Paul



 BL> It is my considered opinion that Bethlehem was real, but the rest of

 BL> it was crap, including the "virgin", the "wise
men" and the "star" they

 BL> "followed" (clever trick),



 PE> They could have followed the north star which they have up there.



Polaris is an unremarkable magnitude 2.1 at the moment, lots of

stars are brighter. (Comparison:the faintest of the four stars that

make the big rectangle of Orion is mag 2.2 .) It's well known only

because it's currently very close to the north celestial pole, and

is easily naked eye visible.



 PE> Pity we don't have a south star.



There is one, Sigma Octans, but it has problems: (a) it's further

away from the south pole than Polaris is from the north pole, and

(b) it's a dim little sod, approx mag 6, usually needing binocs in

anything less than perfect skies.



Cheers



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