The competition is run by Royal Observatory Greenwich sponsored by Insight Investment and in association with BBC Sky at Night Magazine. This year astrophotographers from 91 countries sent in more than 4,200 spectacular entries. Here: The Milky Way rises above an isolated lighthouse in Tasmania. Shot by James Stone of Australia. (Photo by James Stone/Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018)
Colorful hot air balloons glide across the Qicai Danxia scenic area in Zhangye City, northwest China's Gansu Province on August 17, 2023. (Photo by Rex Features/Shutterstock)
A Libyan fireman stands in front of smoke and flames rising from an oil storage tank at an oil facility in northern Libya's Ras Lanouf region on January 23, 2016, after it was set ablaze earlier in the week following attacks launched by Islamic State (IS) group jihadists to seize key port terminals. (Photo by AFP Photo/Stringer)
Alfred Yetta (L) and Kay Manning pose for a photo in front of a cardboard cut-out of Pope Francis, during an event organised by Christa Scalies, the co-creator of the Pop-Up Pope, in Fado Irish Pub & Restaurant in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 16, 2015. (Photo by Mark Makela/Reuters)
Horses compete during the 21st Dubai International Arabian Horse Championship with the participation of 205 horses from many countries in Dubai, UAE on March 24, 2024. (Photo by Waleed Zein/Anadolu via Getty Images)
A woman poses for a picture next to a caterpillar-tracked Bentley Continental GT, which was modified by Russian car engineering enthusiasts, during a demonstration in St. Petersburg, Russia on June 7, 2019. (Photo by Anton Vaganov/Reuters)