Pretty Pictures

The best I can come up with, anyway. Some are pretty good, while others are interesting for other reasons.

Nebulae

M27 is a planetary nebula located 1300 light years away in the constellation Vulpecula, and gets its name from its two-lobed appearance. It is easy to find with a small telescope or binoculars.

NGC 2024 is an emission nebula in Orion. It is located on the east end of Orion's belt. It is also known as the Flame Nebula.

NGC 6888 is a gaseous nebula in Cygnus. Also known as the Crescent Nebula, it is formed by the intense solar wind of the central star colliding with the shell of gas put off when the star went through its red giant phase.

The Ring Nebula is a planetary nebula. It was formed when the outer layers of the central star were expelled during the final stages of evolution. The central "void" is very sparse helium, the inner side of the ring is hydrogen and oxygen, and the outer side is sulfur and nitrogen, according to NASA's Hubble data.

Galaxies

NGC 7331 in the constellation Pegasus is a Milky Way-like galaxy some 40 million light years distant, with several visual companions which lie about 300 million light years beyond. NGC 7331 is unusual in that the central bulge rotates the opposite direction from the disk.

M31 in the constellation Andromeda is also known as the Andromeda Galaxy. It is the dominant member of the local group, which contains the Milky Way. At 4 million light years distant it is the closest spiral galaxy to us.

NGC 891 is a great example of an edge-on spiral. My favorite view.

Stephan's Quintet is a very tight group of galaxies located some 311 million light years out. It is located just outside the frame of any image of NGC7331.

M33 is a galaxy in Triangulum. It is the smallest spiral galaxy in the Local Group, and may be a satellite of M31, the Andromeda Galaxy. It is one of the farthest "permanent" objects that can be seen with the naked eye.

The Whirlpool Galaxy, M51, is actually a pair of interacting galaxies in Canes Venatici. It is found just a little bit south of the tip of the handle of the Big Dipper. It was the first galaxy with an observed spiral structure.

NGC 2403 is a member of the M81 group, about 50,000ly in diameter, and a relatively close 8 million light years away. It was discovered by William Herschel in 1788. It contains NGC 2404, one of the largest known HII star forming regions.

Supernova Remnants

NGC 6992 is a supernova remnant in Cygnus, right next door to NGC 6995.

NGC 6995 is a supernova remnant in Cygnus.

M1 is a supernova remnant in Taurus. It is called the Crab Nebula because the first drawing of it looked like a crab. It is associated with the supernova of 1054 AD.

Star Clusters

M15 is a globular cluster in Pegasus.