Red-crowned cranes, dancing gracefully in the snowy fields, spread their wings and perform a “courtship dance” at the feeding area of the ”Tsurui Ito Red-crowned Crane Sanctuary” in the village of Tsurui, in Japan's northern island of Hokkaido on February 15, 2025. (Photo by JIJI Press/AFP Photo)

World's Greatest Swimming Pools: Four Seasons, Serengeti Pool, Tanzania. A show of elephants, buffalo and baboons awaits thanks to an active watering hole below the free-form infinity pool at this plush hideaway inside Serengeti National Park. Bonus: Because of infrared technology at the hole, guests can be notified on their bedroom TV when animals are approaching. When you've got word of wildlife on the horizon, catch them from your private terrace – or head back to the pool. (From $1,650). (Photo by Four Seasons)

Highly commended, mammals: Gelada after the storm – Marco Gaiotti (Italy). “Gelada baboons are the only monkey species in the world that feed on grasses. They are native to the tableland of Ethiopia. Every morning large family groups wander from their sleeping places in the steep rock face, up to 1,000 metres high, to the feeding grounds at the tablelands. This image clearly depicts their feeding strategy: they pull out bunches of grass, sort the stalks and then lift them to their mouth. This shot was taken towards the end of the rainy season after a heavy storm”. (Photo by Marco Gaiotti/2019 GDT European Wildlife Photographer of the Year)

A vintage car sits in flood water on March 20, 2019 in Hamburg, Iowa. Although flood water in the town has started to recede many homes and businesses remain surrounded by water. Several Midwest states are battling some of the worst flooding they have experienced in decades as rain and snow melt from the recent “bomb cyclone” has inundated rivers and streams. At least three deaths have been linked to the flooding. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

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.

An Israeli policeman prevents a Palestinian man from entering the compound which houses al-Aqsa mosque, known by Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and by Jews as the Temple Mount, in Jerusalem's Old City September 28, 2015. (Photo by Ammar Awad/Reuters)

In this September 16, 2017 photo, a music fan poses for the photo against an angel wings' mural at the Rock in Rio music festival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Leo Correa/AP Photo)

Yana Shcherban of Russia looks at the ball after failing to receive it during their FIVB Women's Volleyball World Grand Prix 2014 final round against Japan in Tokyo August 20, 2014. (Photo by Yuya Shino/Reuters)