The photographer Rogelio Bernal Andreo has found ways to get incredible photographs of the deep sky. It's hard to believe that these weren't shot from a space telescope but from Earth:

The Andromeda galaxy:

And my favourite, this 'closeup' shot of the Horsehead nebula:

I have the digital copy of Rogelio's book Deep Sky Colors that has more of his photos. A recommended purchase if you enjoy astro-photography.