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)

U.S. Army helicopters providing support for U.S. ground troops fly into a staging area fifty miles northeast of Saigon, Vietnam, August 28, 1966. Helicopter fuel is stored in the large rubber tanks, foreground. (Photo by Henri Huet/AP Photo)

Sportsnet's Hazel Mae runs away as George Springer #4 of the Toronto Blue Jays is doused with water by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. #27 following a 7-2 over the Boston Red Sox at Rogers Centre on June 27, 2022 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by John E Sokolowski/USA Today via Reuters)

A woman wearing a burka walks through a bird market as she holds her child, in downtown Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, May 8, 2022. Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers on Saturday ordered all Afghan women to wear head-to-toe clothing in public – a sharp, hard-line pivot that confirmed the worst fears of rights activists and was bound to further complicate Taliban dealings with an already distrustful international community. (Photo by Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo)

Elementary school sumo wrestlers compete in the sumo ring during the Wanpaku sumo-wrestling tournament in Tokyo, Japan on October 29, 2022. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

Garrett Gerloff (L) of the USA GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team and Sandro Cortese (R) of Germany on OUTDO Kawasaki TPR colide during a warm up session of the the World Superbike Championship on Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia, 01 March 2020. (Photo by Scott Barbour/EPA/EFE)

Visitors, wearing face masks, enter the Disneyland theme park in Shanghai as it reopened, Monday, May 11, 2020. Visits will be limited initially and must be booked in advance, and the company said it will increase cleaning and require social distancing in lines for the various attractions. (Photo by Sam McNeil/AP Photo)

New York Islanders' Matt Martin (17) and Pittsburgh Penguins' Zach Aston-Reese (12) fight during the second period in Game 2 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Pittsburgh, Tuesday, May 18, 2021. Both players received a two-minute minor penalty. (Photo by Gene J. Puskar/AP Photo)