A soldier reacts after falling off a horse as members of the King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery, arrive at Green Park for a gun salute celebrating the King's birthday in London on November 14, 2022. King Charles III is celebrating his first birthday as monarch as he turns 74. (Photo by Daniel Leal/AFP Photo)

A pro-Palestinian demonstrator sticks her tongue out as she is escorted to a police vehicle outside a building housing the Israeli Consulate in San Francisco, Monday, June 3, 2024. Police arrested Palestinian supporters Monday who occupied the lobby of the building. (Photo by Jeff Chiu/AP Photo)

A captive elephant is made to swim for visitors at Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Chonburi province, Thailand on September 15, 2024. (Photo by Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP 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.

Passengers brave the strong winds as they wait for a bus, in Hong Kong, Monday, September 15, 2014. The Hong Kong Observatory issued the number 8 southeast storm signal, as Typhoon Kalmaegi edges closer to Hong Kong. (Photo by Kin Cheung/AP Photo)

A conductor (C) collects fares from candy floss sellers as they travel in a tram to a marketplace early morning in Kolkata, India, December 23, 2015. (Photo by Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters)

Hounds of The Cheshire Forest Hunt push their snouts through the bars of their kennels as they eagerly await their morning walk in preparation for the start of the new hunting season, in Knutsford, England, on Oktober 31, 2013. The hunting season traditionally starts around November 1st. Although a ban on hunting has been in force since February 2005, many supporters of fox hunting are continuing to call for a repeal of the ban, saying the current law is hard to interpret and enforce. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)