This church is about a 1 1/2 hour drive from my place!!
Church ceiling depicts stars on Christmas Eve, 1 BC: astronomer
LUNENBURG, N.S. - Using modern technology, a Nova Scotia astronomer has uncovered the secret of one of Canada's oldest churches.
Though astronomer David Turner had never noticed the gold leaf stars painted on the ceiling of St. John's Anglican Church in Lunenburg, N.S., he was intrigued when a restoration committee asked him to trace the significance of the constellations represented.
"I love a mystery as much as anyone," Turner told the Halifax Chronicle-Herald. A former director of Laurentian University's planetarium, where he used to recreate night skies of the past for presentations, Turner is now a professor at Saint Mary's University.
Though the star patterns appeared random at first, upon closer inspection of the curved canopy at the front of the church, some began to look familiar – but slightly off.
Using desktop planetary software, Turner began comparing the ceiling to what the sky looked like 2,000 years ago, when Christians believe Jesus was born.
Recreating the constellation over Bethlehem "didn't work," he said. "It was oriented wrong."
However, when he recreated the night sky over Lunenberg in 1 BC, Turner found a match.
The church ceiling depicts "how the sky would have appeared at sunset on Dec. 24, the beginning of Christmas Day, two millennia ago."
Now, as part of a major restoration that will see decorative painting, murals, panels and pews repaired, a local artist can properly complete the work replacing the gold stars on the blue-domed ceiling.
The Lunenburg church was named one of the 100 most endangered sites in the world by World Monuments Watch, a non-profit group funded by American Express, which subsequently donated $80,000 US for the renovation project.
The first church service after the revamp is scheduled for June 12, 2005.
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