Craig Chester (astronomer) facts for kids
Craig Chester is an American astronomer. He helped start the Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy (MIRA) in California. He did this with five other astronomy students and three non-astronomers.
Chester suggested that the Star of Bethlehem was a real event. He thought that Jupiter's "stationary point" during its apparent retrograde motion could explain why the Star seemed to "stop" over Bethlehem. He wrote an article that helped inspire the documentary The Star of Bethlehem. Chester also created computer programs for satellite communications for the United States military. He was the president of MIRA in 2016.
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Career
In 1963, Craig Chester joined the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. He was a student at Harvard College. For his research, he studied how to classify galaxies. He used data to create a diagram for the Virgo Cluster and other galaxies.
Chester earned his Ph.D in astronomy from Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) in Cleveland, Ohio. At that time, it was hard to find jobs in astronomy. Many graduates had to look for other work. Those who found astronomy jobs often waited a long time to use telescopes.
Starting MIRA
In 1971, Craig Chester and William Bruce Weaver, another astronomy student, talked about buying a small telescope. They wanted to stay connected to astronomy after graduating. Soon, they and seven other friends decided to build their own observatory instead.
They looked at maps to find a good spot for looking at stars. In 1972, the nine students started MIRA as a nonprofit group. They used their savings to buy 80 acres of land in the Los Padres National Forest.
The original MIRA group had nine members. Six were astronomers, including Craig Chester and W. Bruce Weaver. The others were two wives and one roommate. As they graduated, the group started a mail-order bookstore to earn money for the MIRA observatory. Each member also contributed part of their earnings from other jobs.
In 1975, Army engineers built a road to the site for free. This helped them get access. Chester and Weaver spent their first night camping on Chews Ridge. Chester said, "It was pretty dazzling." They saw a star that didn't belong. It was a nova (an exploding star), the first one visible without a telescope in 30 years. This happened on August 30, and the nova, Nova Cygni 1975, was seen around the world.
William P. Bidelman, who directed the CWRU observatory, gave MIRA its first money donation. Chester said they first had trouble being taken seriously. But after they presented their idea to the American Astronomical Society in 1972, they started getting support from other astronomers.
Building the Observatory
Astrophysicist Martin Schwarzschild from Princeton University loaned MIRA a large, 36-inch telescope mirror. This mirror was meant for a NASA project but was never used. The University of Arizona helped by cutting a hole in the mirror for free. The Research Corporation gave MIRA a $76,000 grant to build the telescope.
In 1980, Bernard M. Oliver from Hewlett Packard offered a $200,000 matching grant. This meant he would give MIRA $1 for every $1 they raised, up to $200,000. While Chester worked on the telescope's computer program, MIRA started research and public talks. Oliver and Bidelman joined MIRA's advisory board. Famous people like photographer Ansel Adams and astronomer Carl Sagan also joined.
The MIRA observatory opened in 1984. It studied how stars change over time. Their success encouraged other astronomers to find private money for research.
The Star of Bethlehem Theory
Chester was president of MIRA in 1993. They kept improving their facilities and doing research. They also offered a science program for high school teachers and public lectures. Chester gave a talk about the Star of Bethlehem. He said, "If you’re an astronomer, one of the things you learn at an early age is that everyone wants to know about the Star of Bethlehem."
After a presentation in 1992, Chester wrote an article in Imprimis. He suggested that a series of events in 3 BC and 2 BC could explain the Star of Bethlehem. These events involved the planet Jupiter and the star Regulus, and then Jupiter and Venus. Chester said the Christmas song "We Three Kings" was mostly wrong. He used a 1 BC date for Herod the Great’s death.
Chester noted that the movements and alignments of Jupiter, Venus, Mercury, Mars, and Saturn in 3 BC and 2 BC were impressive. He also pointed out that Jupiter could have appeared to stop over Bethlehem due to apparent retrograde motion.
Craig Chester suggested the "stopping" of the Star of Bethlehem could have been a "stationary point." He explained: "A planet normally moves eastward through the stars. But it regularly appears to slow down, stop, and move backward (westward) for some weeks. Then it slows, stops again, and goes back to its eastward path."
Chester also noted that the Magi were known to travel for the birth and crowning of kings. He suggested Joseph and Mary might have traveled to Bethlehem in 2 BC for a census. This census would have honored the 25th anniversary of Caesar Augustus's rule.
Frederick Larson, a lawyer, read Chester's article. Larson was very interested in the Star of Bethlehem. Using Chester's article, Larson used the Starry Night astronomy software. He found the events Chester had described. After sharing his findings, Larson helped produce The Star of Bethlehem film.
Satellite Communications Work
Chester has also worked as a software developer for satellite communications. He worked for the United States Navy and United States Air Force. He also worked for BAE Systems plc and Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC). At SAIC, Chester led a team that managed data from US Navy and Air Force weather satellites.
Chester continued his work with the Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy. He was its president in 2016.
Personal life
In 1984, Chester married Nancy Lynn Welliver, whom he met in high school. Lynne Chester was a foundation administrator, photographer, and artist. She passed away in 2012 from Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's Disease) after 27 years of marriage.
See also
- Apparent retrograde motion
- List of astronomers
