Was it a meteor? Was it a comet? Maybe a nebula?
Just what was the Star of Bethlehem that drew poor shepherds and wealthy kings to the birthplace of Jesus?
This was the question posed to a capacity audience Saturday in one of a number of holiday season events at the Francis Malcolm Science Center in Easton.
The annual presentation of “The Christmas Star,” a classic optical program investigating the astronomical mystery of the Star of Bethlehem, is the centerpiece in a constellation of activities the Francis Malcolm Center offers to the community at Christmastime.
This year, the planetarium show included images using new digital equipment as well as multiple projectors.
Tricia Langner, administrator of the Francis Malcolm Science Center in Easton, prepares greens and decorations for a holiday craft workshop at the center Dec. 9. (Kathryn Olmstead)
“It was a blend of the old and the new,” said planetarium director Larry Berz, calling the digital part of the presentation “a winter fantasy of light in northern Maine,” a place known for its unusual lights, visible because of the darkness of the night sky.
“We’re two weeks from the solstice,” he said, “increasing the likelihood of an auroral display.”
In attempting to solve the mystery of the Star of Bethlehem, scientists featured in “The Christmas Star” conducted astrological studies of the period when Christ was born, between 6 and 7 B.C. They analyzed social and scientific possibilities and, unable to reach a definitive conclusion, accepted it might have been a miracle.
Whatever it was, it changed history, and the opportunity to learn about it fills the 35-seat planetarium in Easton year after year.
“The Francis Malcolm Science Center is building community,” Berz told the multi-generational audience Saturday, expressing hope that the event would foster the joy of the season.
The center also hosts a series of holiday craft workshops for the public every year, where participants make wreaths, centerpieces and swags. This year, employees of Columbia Wood Products in Presque Isle also gathered at the center to make holiday decorations.
And, on a recent December weekend, a group of Boy Scouts from Troop 0194 in Fort Fairfield arrived at the center bringing tools and energy to a significant restoration project.
Since it opened in 1983, the science center has used its more than 100 acres of forested woodlands to promote bird study and investigation. To that end, the center constructed a small sanctuary with benches for observation of chickadees, blue jays, nuthatches other woodland birds.
“Over the last three decades, the sanctuary benches suffered from inevitable wear and tear, as well as damage from wildlife impacting its platforms and tree-supported feeders,” Berz said. “Enter . . . . . the Boy Scouts of America.”
Under the direction of Scout Master Travis Norsworthy and assistants Brian Bixler and Philip Long, the Scouts accepted the invitation to restore the sanctuary for a community service project. They cleared recently de-limbed spruce to a debris zone, removed stumps and logs from snowshoe trails and constructed eight pressure-treated benches for class observations.
“Now instead of a winter of despair, the birding population will enjoy some seeds and nuts of FMSC, as well as visits from a County corps of youngsters from pre-school to early school age, weather permitting,” Berz said. “Thanks also go to local volunteers and FMSC staff who prepared the way for the boys with time, tools, perspiration and materials.”
“The upgrade is certainly much appreciated,” said Jim Orser, president of the Francis Malcolm Science Center board, calling the project “an example of how a Boy Scout Troop can make a difference.”
Assistant Scout Master Long said, “It was a great learning experience for the troop and they had a lot of fun doing it.”
