  We present an analysis of NICMOS observations of the embedded cluster
associated with NGC 2024. An analysis of the cluster color-magnitude diagram
(CMD) using the models of D'Antona & Mazzitelli (1997) and Baraffe et al.
(1998) indicates that the ratio of intermediate mass (1.0 to 10.0 M_sun) to low
mass (0.1 to 1.0 M_sun) stars is consistent with the stellar initial mass
function (IMF) for the field. In addition to the CMD analysis, we present
results on the multiplicity of stars in the region. Three companions (in a
sample of 95 potential primaries) were found, with angular separations between
0".4 and 1".0, translating to a projected linear separation of 184 AU to 460 AU
for an estimated distance of 460 pc. The completeness of binary detections is
assessed using recovery fractions calculated by a series of tests using
artificially generated companions to potential primaries in the data frames. We
find that the binary fraction in NGC 2024 is consistent with that of Duquennoy
& Mayor (1991) for solar neighborhood stars over the range of separations and
companion masses appropriate for our survey.
