PORTSMOUTH — Who were the wise men? Were there just three? Did they come from Persia, Babylon or Ethiopia? Did they follow a visible star to Jerusalem? Was Jesus born 2009 years ago? Is December 25th his real birthday?

The Clark Planetarium in the Advanced Technology Center at Shawnee State University has scheduled several Christmas shows to answer these questions.

The “Star of Bethlehem” will be presented from 7 to 8 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 11, Monday, Dec. 14 and Friday, Dec. 18.

This will be the last show of the season until the new schedule is announced in January. The Dec. 7 show is cancelled.

“Star of Bethlehem” answers many questions as the search continues for a celestial object that could have led the wise men to the Christ child. A planet was called a “wandering star,” a meteor was a “shooting star” and a comet was a “hairy star” because its tail looked like a beard.

These are all candidates in the search. Discover what this event might have been and how it could have guided the wise men to Jerusalem and on to Bethlehem.

For planetarium schedule and visiting information, call the planetarium information line at (740) 351-3125, or visit the Web site at http://planetarium.shawnee.edu.

All shows at Clark Planetarium are free and open to the public. School groups and other non-profit groups wanting to organize a private showing also will be free.

“We hope this will attract more visitors and aid Clark Planetarium in teaching the public about astronomy,” said Dr. Timothy Hamilton, director of Clark Planetarium.

For information on scheduling a private planetarium show, please call the information line at (740) 351-3125 or the scheduler at (740) 351-3222.