Orion Nebula

You don't need an apochromatic refractor to see this notable nebula, but it sure helps. That's just technical talk for a type of telescope commonly used for astrophotography, available (albeit for a pretty penny) to home astronomers—like the one who caught this photo of the Orion Nebula from their backyard in Italy. Unless you live in the heart of the city, you too can see this space object from home: Its apparent magnitude of 4.0 means it's fairly faint but visible from all but the most light-polluted places, looking much like a small star to the naked eye. Just look for Orion's trademark triple-star belt and you'll find the nebula glimmering amid a row of stars close by.