You do not need a telescope to enjoy some of the best star clusters, galaxies and other deep-sky objects in the night sky. Many large, bright targets are particularly well suited to binoculars because their wide field of view makes them easier to locate and allows extended objects to be seen in their surroundings.
A pair of 7×50 or 10×50 binoculars is sufficient for the objects below, although what you can see will depend strongly on sky darkness, transparency and the object’s altitude above the horizon. The photographs are included to identify the targets rather than represent what you should expect to see through binoculars.
1. Hyades (Melotte 25) – Open Star Cluster
- Constellation: Taurus
- Right ascension: 4h 27m
- Declination: +15° 52′
- Apparent magnitude: about 0.5
- Distance: about 150 light-years
The Hyades is the nearest major open star cluster to Earth and forms the prominent V-shaped pattern that marks the face of Taurus. Its large apparent size makes binoculars an excellent way to explore the cluster.
Aldebaran, the bright orange star that appears to complete the V, is not actually a member. At about 65 light-years away, it lies much closer to us and merely appears in the same direction as the cluster.
2. IC 4665 – Open Star Cluster
- Constellation: Ophiuchus
- Right ascension: about 17h 46m
- Declination: about +05° 39′
- Apparent magnitude: about 4.2
- Distance: about 1,120 light-years
IC 4665 is a loose young cluster located about one degree northeast of Beta Ophiuchi. Modern measurements place it roughly 1,120 light-years away, while recent research suggests an age of around 50–60 million years.
Under a sufficiently dark sky it can be detected without optical aid, but binoculars reveal the scattered collection of bright stars much more clearly. Its broad, loose appearance makes it a particularly good binocular target.
3. NGC 2264 – Christmas Tree Cluster
- Constellation: Monoceros
Credit: ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2. Acknowledgment: D. De Martin (CC BY 4.0). - Right ascension: about 6h 41m
- Declination: about +09° 53′
- Distance: about 2,500 light-years
NGC 2264 is a large star-forming complex that includes the Christmas Tree Cluster and Cone Nebula. The Christmas Tree’s bright young stars make the cluster the part most accessible to binocular observers.
Do not expect the dramatic nebulosity seen in photographs. Binoculars primarily reveal the stellar grouping, while the Cone Nebula itself is a much more difficult visual target requiring dark skies and considerably more aperture.
4. NGC 2403 – Spiral Galaxy
- Constellation: Camelopardalis
- Right ascension: 07h 36m 51s
- Declination: +65° 36′
- Apparent magnitude: about 8.9
- Distance: about 8 million light-years
NGC 2403 is a spiral galaxy on the outskirts of the M81 Group. It resembles the Triangulum Galaxy in having numerous active star-forming regions scattered through its spiral structure.
Under dark, transparent skies, binoculars can reveal NGC 2403 as a faint elongated glow. Its spiral arms, dust structure and individual star-forming regions are photographic or telescopic features rather than details you should expect to resolve through ordinary binoculars.
5. Alpha Persei Cluster (Melotte 20) – Open Star Cluster
- Constellation: Perseus
- Right ascension: about 03h 27m
- Declination: about +49° 07′
- Apparent magnitude: about 1.2
- Distance: roughly 560 light-years
Also known as Melotte 20, the Alpha Persei Cluster is a large, loose grouping centered on the bright star Mirfak. Unlike Aldebaran and the Hyades, Mirfak really is associated with the stellar group around it.
The cluster is easily visible without optical aid from a reasonably dark location, but binoculars transform it into a rich field of bright stars. Its wide extent makes it much better suited to binoculars than to a telescope using high magnification.
6. Trumpler 2 – Open Star Cluster
- Constellation: Perseus
- Right ascension: about 02h 37m
- Declination: about +56° 00′
- Distance: roughly 2,200 light-years
- Age: roughly 100 million years
Trumpler 2 is a relatively sparse open cluster in Perseus. Modern Gaia-based studies place it roughly 2,200 light-years away and identify dozens of probable cluster members.
Binoculars show its brighter stars against the rich stellar background of the Milky Way. Some observers have nicknamed the pattern the “Rabbit,” although recognizing that shape depends very much on the observer and observing conditions.
7. NGC 1981 – Open Star Cluster
- Constellation: Orion
- Right ascension: about 05h 35m
- Declination: about −04° 24′
- Apparent magnitude: about 4.2
- Distance: about 1,250 light-years
NGC 1981 is a loose open cluster immediately north of the Orion Nebula region, at the upper end of Orion’s Sword. It spans nearly half a degree of sky, making it an easy object to include in the same binocular field as the surrounding Orion complex.
Its brightest stars form a distinctive pattern that observers have variously compared to an alligator or crocodile. Nearby NGC 1977 and the Running Man Nebula are separate objects immediately to its south.
8. NGC 253 – Sculptor Galaxy
- Constellation: Sculptor
- Right ascension: 00h 47m 33s
- Declination: −25° 17′
- Apparent magnitude: about 8.0
- Distance: about 11.5 million light-years
NGC 253, commonly called the Sculptor Galaxy or Silver Coin Galaxy, is a large, bright spiral galaxy undergoing vigorous star formation. Its relatively high surface brightness makes it one of the easier galaxies beyond the Local Group to detect with binoculars from a dark location.
Binoculars show an elongated hazy patch, while telescopes begin to reveal its mottled structure and prominent dust. NGC 253 was discovered by Caroline Herschel in 1783.
9. Coma Star Cluster (Melotte 111) – Open Star Cluster
- Constellation: Coma Berenices
- Right ascension: about 12h 22m
- Declination: about +26°
- Apparent magnitude: about 1.8
- Distance: about 280 light-years
The Coma Star Cluster is one of the nearest open clusters to Earth. Its stars are spread across several degrees of sky, so the cluster is an excellent example of an object that can look better through binoculars than through a telescope.
Under dark skies, many of its stars can already be seen with the unaided eye as a loose, hazy grouping. Binoculars reveal dozens of stars at once and make the cluster’s broad shape much easier to appreciate.
10. NGC 129 – Open Star Cluster
- Constellation: Cassiopeia
- Right ascension: about 00h 30m
- Declination: about +60° 13′
- Apparent magnitude: about 6.5
- Distance: about 5,450 light-years
NGC 129 is a loose open cluster located almost midway between Caph (Beta Cassiopeiae) and Gamma Cassiopeiae. William Herschel discovered it in 1788.
Through binoculars, look for the compact triangular arrangement of brighter stars near the cluster’s center. The surrounding Milky Way is rich in background stars, so NGC 129 can initially be harder to distinguish than the brighter and more concentrated clusters on this list.