Twinkle, twinkle, Christmas star …

We see and know stars. But what are they, and why do they shine? Quite simply. Stars are spheres of gas. But it is hot inside them, many millions of degrees Celsius. Because of the intense heat, the gas glows and lights up - like a light bulb, only much brighter. So bright that it can be seen from Earth, even though stars are many trillions of kilometers away. The smallest stars are about ten times the diameter of the Earth, while giant stars can be hundreds of thousands of times as big. ONE star is close to us compared to the others: the sun. Its diameter is about a hundred times that of the Earth.

Whether decorations or cookies: stars are popular in December. Not least because the Star of Bethlehem plays an important role. In the Christmas story, it is said that at the time of Jesus' birth, astrologers came to Bethlehem looking for the newborn king. They had seen his star rising and therefore set off on the long journey from the East. In the end, the star remained above the stable where Jesus was born. So, the Magi (or «three Kings») went in and saw the child. They fell down and took out their gifts, namely gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Astronomers have wondered whether the Star of Bethlehem really existed. If it did, then it must have been visible to the naked eye and in the sky for a long time. After all, the astrologers from Babylon must have had enough time to follow it by camel to Bethlehem. In 1603, an astronomer observed a conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn in the constellation of Pisces. As the Messiah was to be born during such an event, he calculated whether such a constellation could be seen at the time of Jesus' birth and found that this happened three times in 7 BC: in May, October and December. According to this, the Christmas story could have taken place in this way - albeit 7 years earlier than assumed.

A research team recently announced two new stellar records: the smallest star ever discovered and the fastest orbit of two stars. The smallest star ever discovered lies around 2760 light years away from Earth (1 light year is approx. 9.5 trillion km!) and is only seven times the size of the Earth. It is part of a binary star system. And this is also where the second record can be found. The two stars orbit each other completely in just 20.5 minutes. For comparison: the sun is 110 times larger than the earth. And the Earth needs 365 days to orbit the sun.

Stars fascinate us. Perhaps because they have served us as signposts for thousands of years? Who knows. But stars also have other meanings. In our culture, for example, stars express visionary goals (... reaching for the stars). In many cultures they stand for divine presence and are a symbol of light, hope and eternity. Some mystics see the stars as symbols of the deceased. And in Jewish tradition, each star is guarded by an angel. They have also been used in politics, as stars in national flags express freedom, solidarity and equality.

Even in medieval monasteries, people were busy baking in the run-up to Christmas. And even then, exquisite baked goods with exotic spices were common. Here is a recipe for delicious cinnamon stars.

Ingredients for the dough:
2 fresh egg whites; 1 pinch of salt; 200 g sugar; 350 g ground almonds; 1 ½ tbsp cinnamon; ½ tbsp kirsch or water; 70 g icing sugar; 1 tbsp lemon juice.

1. Beat the egg whites with salt until stiff. Mix in the sugar. Mix the almonds and cinnamon, add to the egg white mixture with the kirsch (or water) and combine to form a dough.
2. Roll out the dough in batches between a cut-open plastic bag or on a lightly sugared surface to a thickness of approx. 1 cm, loosen with a spatula. Cut out the stars, regularly dipping the cutter in a bowl of sugar. Place the stars on baking trays lined with baking paper. Leave to dry at room temperature for approx. 6 hours or overnight.
3. Bake for 3-5 minutes in the middle of an oven preheated to 240°C. Remove from the oven and transfer the cinnamon stars to a cooling rack with the baking paper and leave to cool.
4. Mix the icing sugar and lemon juice. Spread a little icing over the cinnamon stars with a teaspoon and leave to dry.

If you like it extra festive, you can spice up the still moist icing with some edible gold stars. Store the cookies in a tin.