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Most of the constellations are randomly placed stars that appear in the same area of the sky. There are groups of stars that are actually in close proximity with one another. As these clusters of stars are located near the Milky Way – the galactic plane – they are known as galactic clusters. A typical number stars within a galactic cluster varies from 50 to 100.
You are probably already familiar with the brightest of the galactic clusters, the constellation Taurus. All the stars of Taurus' head except the first magnitude Aldebaran are located within a small space and are moving in the same speed and direction. Most galactic clusters are made up of dim stars with apparent magnitudes greater than six. Seen through the naked eye the stars of a galactic cluster appear as blur or not at all. Through binoculars the picture changes dramatically. Tens of stars can be seen within a tiny field of vision, like brilliant stones sparkling on a jeweled bracelet.
Some galactic clusters are only a bit compressed and appear only slightly different from the usual stellar background. Others are highly compressed and form an intricate pattern that reminds one of Arabic calligraphy. Binoculars are in many ways the best instrument for observing galactic clusters. They can easily resolve the eight and nine-magnitude stars needed to evoke the full beauty of this type of stellar cluster.
Furthermore, binoculars' field of vision is often perfect for viewing galactic clusters, while that of telescope is too small to contain an entire cluster. Many other deep-sky objects seen through binoculars appear as fuzzy patches, while galactic clusters show all their complexity and splendor.
Examples: M6, M7, M29, M34, M45, M37, M39, M44, M46, M67