These famous lists are excellent for visual astronomy but can be disappointingfor the astrophotographer. For example, a sparse openstar cluster sparkles at the eyepiece but can be uninspiring as animage. A small planetary nebula may be striking visually but may betoo small to show interesting detail in a photograph. On the other hand,many nebulae that are faint to the eye can have striking texture andhue on long exposures. Spiral galaxies blossom into a rich diversity ofshapes and colors.