V13.1 · Comprehensive Historical Astronomy Suite
Astronomy and Calendar Workbench
Explore the continuous 3–2 BCE sky, test custom observer locations and atmospheric conditions, compare rival Star-of-Bethlehem models, inspect eclipses and occultations, and export a reproducible research report.
How to read the suite
Reconstruction, comparison, and uncertainty
Calculated geometry, modeled visibility, historical testimony, and biblical interpretation remain separate evidence layers throughout the workbench.
Selected time
Custom topocentric observer
Define the observing site
Coordinates are saved in the share link. Browser geolocation is optional and never leaves the page.
Current documented event
Documented five-event sequence
Evidence levels
V13.1 expansion
One preferred chronology, five alternatives, and a null model
The adopted 3–2 BCE sequence remains available, but it now sits beside comet, conjunction, occultation, and literary alternatives so that the same criteria can be applied to each proposal.
Plain-language walkthrough
The adopted sequence from September 3 BCE to June 2 BCE
Select a step to synchronize the workbench and selected time.
Terms translated into ordinary language
- Geocentric
- Calculated from Earth's center.
- Topocentric
- Calculated for a person at a particular location.
- Ecliptic longitude
- An address around the Sun's apparent yearly path.
- True angular separation
- The shortest two-dimensional angle between two objects in the sky.
- Retrograde motion
- An apparent backward loop caused by the relative motion of Earth and a planet.
- Proper motion
- A star's small catalog-measured drift across the sky over centuries.
- Precession
- The slow change in Earth's rotational orientation used to transform stellar coordinates between epochs.
- Interpolation
- An estimate between bundled three-hour calculation nodes.
Continuous exploration
Move through the 3–2 BCE sky
Selected body
Current coordinate table
Observer-centered sky
What would the observer face?
Azimuth runs left to right; altitude runs from below the horizon to the zenith.
Atmosphere, weather, and local horizon
Jupiter and Regulus
Retrograde loop and conjunction definitions
Trace Jupiter's motion and compare equal-longitude crossings with catalog-based minimum separation.
Stellar model upgraded
Regulus is propagated from a catalog position with linear proper motion and transformed using the IAU 2006 Fukushima–Williams precession formulation. Nutation, radial velocity, parallax, and binary orbital motion remain outside this teaching model.
Competing hypotheses
Star-of-Bethlehem candidate comparison
Compare astronomy, chronology, visibility, textual fit, historical support, and objections without treating any category as self-proving.
Selected model
Reference-date sky snapshot
Extended phenomena catalog
Eclipses, lunar occultations, and phase events
Precision events span 12 BCE through 1 BCE and are stored independently from the three-hour explorer nodes.
Event catalog
Ancient-calendar laboratory
Crescent visibility and cross-calendar conversion
Compare a transparent heuristic with Yallop and Odeh, then inspect several proleptic historical dating systems.
Open complete model table
Selected-time calendar conversion
Uncertainty and model boundary
Dating-system definitions
Technical coordinates
Dynamic ecliptic longitude and latitude
The selected date and time—not only a fixed scene—drives this chart.
Interpretive discipline
Keep the calculation separate from the claim
Each layer requires a different kind of evidence.
Astronomical result
Positions and separations follow from the selected date, time, engine, coordinate frame, and observer.
Visibility judgment
Brightness, twilight, extinction, clouds, local horizon, and human perception enter here.
Historical testimony
Records, dating systems, ancient technical traditions, and chronology enter here.
Ancient symbolic reading
Royal or national meanings depend on evidence about omen traditions and historical context.
Biblical identification
Connecting an event to Revelation 12 or Matthew 2 is an exegetical argument, not an ephemeris output.
Methods, provenance, performance, and export
How V13.1 derives each display
Every exported report records the selected state, engine, assumptions, and interpretive boundaries.
Current calculation provenance
Earth-rotation sensitivity
The bundled ΔT model links terrestrial time to Earth rotation. Shift the observer chart to see whether a conclusion is horizon-sensitive.
Export this research state
Browser and regression tests
V13.1 includes a dependency-light runtime smoke test plus a Playwright suite for desktop, mobile, URL restoration, exports, custom observers, atmospheric controls, and offline caching.
npm install && npm run test:astronomy