• In the U.S., where severe weather might be coming for Christmas 2012 for some, many have been seeing lunar halos these past two nights. The moon is near Jupiter now. Last night (December 23), we had several pictures posted on EarthSky Facebook of lunar

halos, with the planet Jupiter located right on the edge of the halo. Very beautiful! Tonight - December 24, 2012 - moving eastward as it always does in orbit around Earth, the moon will pass close the famous Pleiades star cluster and the giant planet Jupiter. Will you see a halo around them all tonight? The only way to know is to look. Our sky chart shows you what the moon, the Pleiades cluster and the blazing planet Jupiter look like from North America this early Christmas Eve evening. From most easterly longitudes - Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand - tonight's moon will be a little farther west (away) the Pleiades cluster and Jupiter.
• You'll easily see planet Jupiter near the moon on December 24, 2012. Will you see the Pleiades? You won't have any trouble spotting Jupiter, the second-brightest celestial body in the evening sky after the moon. The Pleiades is usually easy to see, too, with its small compact shape and at least six stars visible to the eye. The Pleiades has a tiny dipper shape. But you might need binoculars to see this cluster of stars in tonight's moonlit glare, especially if, as the weather forecast for parts of the U.S. suggests for Christmas Eve 2012, haze or clouds cover the sky.

• Pleiades star cluster enjoys worldwide renown
• More about the Pleiades. Early stargazers sometimes described the Pleiades as a 'swarm of bees' in the night sky. Modern stargazers sometimes mistake it for the asterism known as the Little Dipper. The true Little Dipper is always in the north, while the tinier dipper of the Pleiades travels from east to west across the sky on

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