I just watched an interesting show on ewtn, the catholic network. It dealt with the star of bethlehem. The show said that there is software that can accurately depict the appearance of stars in the sky, going back in history. ie the sky of babylon or jerusalem in 2bc can be recreated by this software.
The director of the show said that in 2bc, jupiter was a wondering star in the constellation of leo(symbol of judah); and that following leo was the constellation of virgo(symbol of Mary) with the sun in it's constellation and the moon at its' feet. Jupiter appears moving back and forth over the star regulus(or the king star).
So it was possible that jupiter appeared in the jerusalem sky as hovering over Bethlehem as it moved in the sky. The website goes into detail over this account and the account of the sky during the death on the cross.
You can read everything from the program on this website. Check out [setting the stage], {starry sky}, {the day of the cross}. Tell me what you think.
http://www.bethlehemstar.net/