A woman uses a phone near the scene where many people died and were injured in a stampede during a Halloween festival in Seoul, South Korea on October 30, 2022. (Photo by Kim Hong-ji/Reuters)

Gorgeous galaxies and stunning stars make up this selection of pictures from the shortlisted entries for this year’s Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year award. The winners will be announced on 15 September, and an exhibition of the winning images will be will be displayed in a free exhibition at the Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Centre from 17 September. Here: “Seven Magic Points”. The rusty red swirls of the circular, iron sculpture Seven Magic Points in Brattebergan, Norway mirror the rippling aurora above. (Photo by Rune Engebø/Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2016/National Maritime Museum)

Members of Afghan ninja team “Kabura Vahdet” practices Asian martial arts in Tehran, Iran on June 17, 2022. (Photo by Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Jan Agha, 49, an Afghan hunter, tries to catch his crane at a field in Bagram, Parwan province, Afghanistan on April 10, 2019. As the early morning light breaks over the plain north of Kabul, bird hunter Jan Agha checks his snares as he has done for the past 30 years, hoping to catch a crane, using a tethered bird to lure others down to the nets. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)

Commuters by with the buildings of the banking district in background in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, February 6, 2020. (Photo by Michael Probst/AP Photo)

Mount Sinabung looks calm as seen from Karo, North Sumatra at dawn on August 8, 2021. (Photo by Tibta Nangin/AFP Photo)

The northern lights as seen from from Yell in the Shetland Islands, Scotland on January 15, 2023. The aurora borealis is caused by collisions between electrically charged particles released from the sun that enter the Earth’s atmosphere and collide with gases such as oxygen and nitrogen. (Photo by Ryan Nisbet/Capture Media Agency)

The Aurora Australis, also known as the Southern Lights, glow on the horizon over waters of Lake Ellesmere on the outskirts of Christchurch on May 11, 2024. (Photo by Sanka Vidanagama/AFP Photo)