A veterinarian inspects a cow for foot-mouth-disease ahead of Eid al-Adha, the feast of the sacrifice marking the end of the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca and commemorates Prophet Abraham's readiness to sacrifice his son to show obedience to Allah, at a cowshed in Lambaro, Aceh province on July 7, 2022. (Photo by Chaideer Mahyuddin/AFP Photo)

Children dressed as Hindu deities take part in an event to mark the consecration of Ayodhya Ram temple, in Bhopal on January 22, 2024. (Photo by Gagan Nayar/AFP Photo)

Just Dance 2017 performance at Ubisoft E3 2016 – Day 2 at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Tuesday, June 14, 2016, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Dan Steinberg/Invision for Ubisoft/AP Images)

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)

A man dressed as Santa Claus sits at a bus stop before an annual race in Belgrade, Serbia December 27, 2015. (Photo by Marko Djurica/Reuters)

A Tamil devotee prays during the Thai Pongal harvest festival at a temple in Colombo January 15, 2016.The Tamil festival of Thai Pongal is a thanksgiving ceremony in which the farmers thank the spirits of nature, the sun and the farm animals for their assistance in providing a successful harvest. (Photo by Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters)

A migrant labourer brushes his teeth in front of a scrapped helicopter model in Mumbai, India, April 13, 2016. (Photo by Danish Siddiqui/Reuters)

A demonstrator is carried during a rally in support of a identity check draft law and against delinquency, in Santiago, Chile April 30, 2016. (Photo by Carlos Vera/Reuters)