An officer of the Afghan border police throws an assault rifle to a policeman participating in a military exercise on the outskirts of Herat, Afghanistan, Monday, September 7, 2015. Twelve female and seventy male border police personnel participated in the military exercise near the border with Iran in Herat province. (Photo by Hoshang Hashimi/AP Photo)

McMurdo Station is a U.S. Antarctic research centre located on the southern tip of Ross Island, which is in the New Zealand-claimed Ross Dependency on the shore of McMurdo Sound in Antarctica. It is operated by the United States through the United States Antarctic Program, a branch of the National Science Foundation. The station is the largest community in Antarctica, capable of supporting up to 1,258 residents, and serves as the United States Antarctic science facility. All personnel and cargo going to or coming from Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station first pass through McMurdo.

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.

“The Independence day”. While on storm chasing expeditions in the Tornado Alley in USA I have encountered many photogenic supercell storms. This photograph was taken while we were approaching the storm near Julesburg, Colorado on My 28th, 2013. The storm was tornado warned for more than one hour, but stayed an LP storm through all its cycles and never produced a tornado, just occasional brief funnels, large hail and some rain. Photo location: Julesburg, Colorado, USA. (Photo and caption by Marko Korošec/National Geographic Photo Contest)

An injured man is carried atop an Iraqi special forces armored vehicle during fighting against Islamic State militants in western Mosul, Iraq, Tuesday, March 14, 2017. (Photo by Felipe Dana/AP Photo)

A child jumps to touch lanterns hung on a tree ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations in Beijing on Thursday, January 16, 2020. The world's largest annual migration begins this week in China with millions of Chinese traveling to their hometowns to celebrate the Lunar New Year on Jan. 25 this year which marks the Year of the Rat on the Chinese zodiac. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)

An Indian lift operator stands inside a dedicated lift for people suspected to be infected with the new corona virus at the Government Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad, India, Monday, March 2, 2020. Coronavirus has spread to more than 60 countries, and more than 3,000 people have died from the COVID-19 illness it causes. (Photo by Mahesh Kumar A./AP Photo)

An artist wearing a coronavirus-shaped helmet and a protective suit stands next to a police barricade as he requests people to stay at home during an extended lockdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New Delhi, India, April 30, 2020. (Photo by Adnan Abidi/Reuters)