Most people know Nikon as a purveyor of pro and consumer-grade digital cameras. But the company's expertise with optics bleeds over into related markets – it's one of the science community's major suppliers of microscopes. And each year the company asks the community to send it some of their favorite images of tiny objects. A panel of scientists and journalists have chosen the best of this past year's submissions, which Nikon has placed on its Small World site.

Photo: Honorable Mention. “Snow crystal, illuminated with colored lights (5x)”. (Photo by Dr. Kenneth Libbrecht, California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Department of Physics, Pasadena, California, USA)

The Enigma coding machine used by the Germans in WWII on display at Bletchley Park National Code Centre, November 25, 2004 in Bletchley, England. (Photo by Ian Waldie/Getty Images)

An American flag flutters on a young tree stripped of bark after a massive tornado passed through the town killing at least 116 people May 24, 2011 in Joplin, Missouri. The tornado that ripped through the town of about 50,000 people May 22, is being called the deadliest single tornado in the U.S. in 60 years. (Photo by Julie Denesha/Getty Images)

A demonstrator wears a message on a t-shirt in Tahrir Square on May 27, 2011 in Cairo, Egypt. The ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces said that there would be no use of violence against protests dubbed “the Second Revolution of Anger” taking place in Cairo and other cities in Egypt. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

“Nachos are a popular corn based food of Mexican origin associated with Tex-Mex cuisine that can be either made quickly to serve as a snack or prepared with more ingredients to make a full meal. In their simplest form, nachos are tortilla chips or totopos covered in melted cheese and salsa. First created circa 1943 by Ignacio "Nacho" Anaya, the original nachos consisted of fried corn tortillas covered with melted cheddar cheese and pickled jalapeño peppers”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Workers put the finishing touches on the nachos as Ninety Nine Restaurants in Billerica, Massachusetts set a new world record by creating the Guinness World Records World's Largest Nachos, weighing in at 3,999 lbs on October 1, 2011 in Billerica, Massachusetts. (Photo by Gail Oskin/Getty Images for Ninety Nine Restaurants)

“Andric Ljubodrag is a self-taught photographer born in Belgrade Yugoslavia. He was just 21 years old when he got his first paid job as a photographer. He lives in Toronto and shoots advertising campaigns in Europe, Canada, and the U.S.”. – TheDesignWork.com

The Queen Mary 2 is saluted by the HMB Endeavour, the replica of Captain James Cook's ship, on March 4, 2012 off the coast of Victoria, Australia. (Photo by James Morgan/Carnival Australia via Getty Images)

An idol of Hindu goddess Durga floats in water as devotees immerse the same in the River Kuakhai after the Durga Puja festival in Bhubaneswar, India, Saturday, October 24, 2015. The immersion of idols marks the end of the festival that commemorates the slaying of a demon king by lion-riding, 10-armed goddess Durga, marking the triumph of good over evil. (Photo by Biswaranjan Rout/AP Photo)