This week’s binocular object is the unusually named 9–12 (pronounced “9 through 12”) Geminorum Cluster, an asterism in Gemini. Although the written form looks like a calendar designation ...

The magnitude 2.0 triple star system is draped ... Between two clusters of new stars sits the famed Orion Nebula, all of which look like one bright star surrounded by a shadowy ghoulish nebula.

But the Orion Nebula also has a dark side ... eastern side of the Huygens region (the Fish’s Head), where the 4th-magnitude Trapezium star cluster represents one of the Fish’s eyes.

Everybody Loves a Cluster with a Nebula This is NGC 2264, the Cone Nebula, and the Christmas Tree Cluster. The bright stars ...