Nebulae

Nebulae are clouds of gas and dust in interstellar space. One of my favorite nebulae is the Great Nebula in the constellation Orion (M42). It is easily seen with the naked eye as Orion's sword. It has a large gas and dust cloud, with an inner triangle of stars called the Trapezium. I can see the gas, but not with the detail of the Hubble image shown here. No amateur telescope has that degree of detail. The Orion nebula is an emission nebula, in that it emits light, as opposed to an absorption or dark nebula, which absorbs light (e.g. Horsehead Nebula, also in Orion). Some nebulae, such as the Horsehead, are a real challenge to find and observe

Nebulae are best viewed under low magnification, and rich-field telescopes can provide good views. Large aperture telescopes can gather enough light to produce bright images, and light pollution filters may help you to see details within nebulae, especially for urban/suburban astronomers. Nebulae are favorite targets for astrophotographers.