Grant Mathews suggests another possibility: alignment of planets: Feb. 20, 6 B.C., when Mars, Jupiter and Saturn aligned in the constellation Pisces. April

Grant Mathews suggests another possibility: alignment of planets: Feb. 20, 6 B.C., when Mars, Jupiter and Saturn aligned in the constellation Pisces. April 17, 6 B.C., when the sun, Jupiter, the moon and Saturn aligned in the constellation Aries while Venus and Mars were in neighboring constellations. June 17, 2 B.C., when Jupiter and Venus were closely aligned in Leo. The only "publication" I could found: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,318014,00.html http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,318014,00.html