A Nebula  is an interstellar cloud of dust, gas, and plasma. Nebulae come in differnt varieties which are classified as either Emission, Reflection, or Planetary. Emission nebulae, like the Great Orion Nebula, occur when newly born stars fire up and ionize the surrounding gas. Reflection nebulae are the reflection of starlight on surrounding interstellar dust. Planetary nebulae are formed by the death of certain types of stars. Nebula is the Latin word for "mist", and early astronomers considered every fuzzy patch in the sky a nebula. The Andromeda Galaxy is sometimes still refered to as the Andromeda Nebula. Observing nebulae through a telescope is often chellenging. They do not reveal their color easily and are best viewed from the darkest of skies. There are filters that can be used to enhance the view, but like galaxies, they are best seen by photographs with long exposure time and stacked images. Below are the nebulae I have observed from the Messier Catalog.
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