A small section of the expanding remains of the Veil Nebula, a massive star that exploded about 8,000 years ago. The entire nebula is 110 light-years across, covering six full moons on the sky as seen from Earth, and resides about 2,100 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus, the Swan. (Photo by Reuters/NASA/ESA/Hubble)

A mahout guards the elephants during the annual Vrischikolsavam festival, which features a colourful procession of decorated elephants along with drum concerts, at a temple in Kochi, India, November 18, 2017. (Photo by Sivaram V/Reuters)

A sadhu, or a Hindu holy man, blesses a devotee as he smokes marijuana at a transit camp on the way to Gangasagar, in Kolkata, India, Sunday, January 7, 2018. Thousands of Hindu pilgrims are expected to take the annual holy dip at Gangasagar, where the Ganges River reaches the Bay of Bengal, on the auspicious Makar Sankranti festival day that falls on Jan. 14. (Photo by Bikas Das/AP Photo)

A bonnet macaque sits on consecrated idols of snakes as it drinks milk offered by a devotee during the Hindu festival of Nag Panchami, which is celebrated by worshipping snakes to honour the serpent god, inside a temple on the outskirts of Bengaluru, India, July 27, 2017. (Photo by Abhishek N. Chinnappa/Reuters)

The Royal Observatory just announced its Astronomy Photographer Of The Year 2013 winners. Australian photographer Mark Gee was chosen among a thousand amateur and professional photographers around the globe to win the top title. His work is part of an exhibition of the winning photographers, which opened on Sept. 19 at the Royal Observatory Greenwich. The Royal Observatory shared with us the winners and notable mentions of the competition. Their descriptions of the prizewinners can be found below the images.

Caoimhe Cooburn-Gray poses for a picture on St. Patrick's day in Dublin, Ireland March 17, 2016. Saint Patrick's Day is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (c. AD 385–461), the foremost patron saint of Ireland. Celebrations generally involve public parades and festivals, céilithe, and the wearing of shamrocks, as well as green or orange attire. (Photo by Clodagh Kilcoyne/Reuters)

United States' Inika McPherson prepares an attempt during the women' s high jump final during the World Athletics Championships in London Saturday, August 12, 2017. (Photo by Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters)

A CIT guard carries his gun handgun while bringing a bag containing cash inside an armoured vehicle during a money collection in Johannesburg's CBD, on December 8, 2020. As the Christmas festive season approaches, cash-in-transit (CIT) companies are gearing up as they continue to be target of crime, with about 3000 money vans traveling daily nationwide. Despite the COVID-19 lockdown, there have been 260 cash-in-transit heist incidents in South Africa this year, with 19 CIT crew members killed. Cash-in-transit heists in the country are often military-style planned operations with criminals recurring to bomb making and assault rifles attacks. (Photo by Michele Spatari/AFP Photo)