The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word PLEIADES
I've seen this crossword clue in The Sunday Telegraph
P
L
E
I
A
D
E
S
More clues leading to the result PLEIADES
- Beg directions for protecting current stars
- Beg last of theatre managers to engage current stars
- These days I sleep rough outside, under them?
- Pleased I assembled a group of stars
- Implore heads of entertainment show to welcome international stars
- Number of stars paid, else furious!
- Seven Taureans I pleased excitedly
- Initially looking east, astronomer spied unusual stars
- Stars in side leap about
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Number of stars" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case number of stars = pleiades.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.