If you are looking for something in the sky mindful of the Christmas Star you'll need to get up early in the morning. The brighest planet in the sky, Venus, is high in the southeastern sky well before sunrise. Venus is in the zodiacal constellation Libra and it is well placed this winter for viewing any morning. Enjoy the moment now, for Venus will start appearing lower and lower in the eastern sky each morning ahead.

Venus is getting farther from us and it is only slightly going to get fainter. By May, the planet will be so low in the east to be difficult to spot before sunup.

Christmas Eve offers a sight in the evening. The gibbous moon, only twos day from full moon, appears in the zodiacal constellation Taurus. The moon is right next to the beautiful star cluster called Pleiades. The brilliance of the moon will likely make seeing the cluster a challenge. Use binoculars for a better view. With the moon so bright and close to the Pleiades it is easy to marvel just how big the star cluster appears.

Look again on Tuesday night and the moon will have advanced to the zodiacal constellation Cancer and be as brilliant as usual. This is one of the smallest full moons we've seen in a while. The moon is in apogee, it is farthest from the earth on Friday.

The brightest evening planet Jupiter is high in the sky after sunset. The planet is in the zodiacal constellation Aries. There is no star that comes close to the brilliance of Jupiter.