Merit: A Night at Deadvlei. The night before returning to Windhoek, we spent several hours at Deadveli. The moon was bright enough to illuminate the sand dunes in the distance, but the skies were still dark enough to clearly see the milky way and magellanic clouds. Deadveli means “dead marsh. The camelthorn trees are believed to be about 900 years old, but have not decomposed because the environment is so dry. (Photo and caption by Beth McCarley/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

Neil Zeller's snaps were taken across Canada, where he photographs the northern lights dancing across a dark night sky. In one stunning shot, Zeller, 42, even manages to capture a flash of lightning beneath a storm cell while an aurora gives off a magnificent green glow. The photographer, from Calgary, Alberta, describes himself as a night person, and became interested in night photography about 10 years ago. (Photo by Neil Zeller/Caters News)

Winner. “This was taken in the South Ari Atolls, Maldives, as the south-west monsoon season was setting in. It features my partner – and dive buddy – Emma after surfacing at the end of the last dive of the day to find 1.5 metre swells and dark monsoon clouds. MICK RYAN, JUDGE: This beautiful portrait of a diver in an ocean swell below a menacing sky stands out this month for its emotional and elemental beauty. It is a reminder that while we may play among nature we are always dwarfed by its power and must be constantly on our guard”. (Photo by Simon Dunn/The Guardian)

In a handout picture released by the British Ministry of Defence via their Defence News Imagery website on August 22, 2016, Nils Olav the penguin inspects the Guard of Honour formed by His Majesty the King of Norway's Guard on August 22, 2016 at Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland. His Majesty the King of Norway's Guard paid a very special visit to RZSS Edinburgh Zoo to bestow a unique honour upon resident king penguin Sir Nils Olav. Already a knight, the most famous king penguin in the world was given the new title of “Brigadier Sir Nils Olav”. (Photo by Mark Owens/AFP Photo)

Revellers attend the Victorian Picnic during the Wave and Goth festival in Leipzig, Germany, May 22, 2015. The annual festival, known in Germany as Wave-Gotik Treffen (WGT), features over 100 bands and artists in venues all over the city playing Gothic rock and other styles of the dark wave music subculture. One of the biggest of its kind, the event attracts a regular audience of up to 20,000, the organisers said. (Photo by Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters)

The rotating updraft base of a supercell thunderstorm, and a rear flank downdraft containing rain and hail, backlit by the setting sun, on May 10, 2014, in Climax, Kansas, United States. To most of us, dark clouds on the horizon usually means rain – but here in Kansas, they can also signal the start of a supercell. The huge formations, also known as rotating thunderstorms, are among the most powerful weather phenomenon found over land. They can occur anywhere where the conditions are right, but are normally found in more arid climates. These awe-inspiring supercells were captured south of Climax city by storm chaser Stephen Locke. (Photo by Stephen Locke/Barcroft Media)

A motorcyclist performs the superman stunt on a highway in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, September 14, 2014. Crowds of small motorbikes ridden by racers – or “Mat Rempit”, as they are known in Malaysian slang – face off in impromptu races in the Malaysian capital after dark. The decades-old culture is widely frowned upon by largely conservative Malaysians, who fear its potential to encourage gambling, drug abuse, snatch thefts and sexual promiscuity. (Photo by Olivia Harris/Reuters)

A deer canters past participants in the Darkness into Light event in Killarney, Co Kerry, Ireland on May 7th, 2022. The annual pre-dawn walk raises funds for Pieta, a charity that supports people who are in suicidal distress or engage in self-harm, as well as families affected by suicide. All counselling sessions and other services are provided free of charge. (Photo by James Crombie/INPHO)