However, if we grant a later birth year for the Nativity (5,4,3 BC) then this hypotheis must be rejected. With more thought regarding this matter, I am leaning more toward a planet/star alignment, rather than a conjunction of 2 or more planets. Reading some of the older literature, I am starting to favor Jupiter as the likely planet, and either Regulus or Spica as the star...
I’m inclined to believe that it was Jupiter that the Wise Men followed, but that it took a series of conjunctions to make the Wise Men realize what they were being told. It’s possible that the celestial events from before 6 BC were meant to get the Wise Men’s attention and tell them to be on the alert for future developments that came in 3-2 BC.
However, I’ve seen speculation in the course of my research that the Wise Men were pre-programmed to be on the lookout for the Messiah because the prophet Daniel recorded a schedule (Daniel 9:24-27).
But, no matter how many times I have read Daniel I cannot make heads or tails of it. Parts of this passage could be applied to Christ, but other parts could be applied to Antiochus Epiphanes(sp?), the emperor that the Maccabees revolted against. And then you have to decide whether or not the parts applied to Christ indicate His first coming, or His second.
If this is true, and we could pinpoint the time of Daniel, we would know when Christ was born and therefore know the year to look for the Star. But if the Wise Men knew when Christ was to be born, they could have simply gone to Judea ahead of time and waited, and this would have made the Star unnecessary.