The Orion Nebula is a vast interstellar star nursery. The clouds of gas coalesce to form the stars we see in the sky. This nebula is the closest and brightest of all the nebulas. It can clearly be seen with the naked eye, as a fuzzy patch in the area of the sword on Orion's belt (the constellation). This "hourglass" shaped constellation is a familiar sight for the Northern hemisphere during late fall and winter. This photo actually contains several objects in this vast deep sky complex. You can see NGC 1977 to the far left, and both M42 and M43. The Trapezium, the bright spot in the middle, is composed of 4-5 stars through most scopes. The Outer Loop is also visible encircling the large nebula..
I shot this with my 100mm F6 Refractor and my Canon 300D DSLR.