Judges watch athletes during the women's individual compact NH 5km competition at the Nordic Combined World Cup in Ramsau, Austria, Saturday, December 16, 2023. (Photo by Matthias Schrader/AP Photo)

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)

Celebrities Switch into their 2nd Outfits for the Met Gala After Parties on May 7, 2019. Pictured: Hailey Bieber. (Photo by DIGGZY/Splash News and Pictures)

A starling jealously guards a seed station in the back garden of the photographer’s Michigan home in January 2024. (Photo by Lisa Cavanary/Solent News)

Laelys Alavez, Anastasia Bayandina, Ambre Esnault, Laura Gonzalez, Romane Lunel, Eve Planeix, Charlotte Tremble and Laura Tremble of France perform in the artistic swimming team free routine at on August 6, 2024 at Olympic Aquacenter in Saint-Denis, France. (Photo by Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters)

In this March 12, 2015 photo, a man tours a graffiti exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, in Bogota, Colombia. The city-run museum recently held an exhibition highlighting the work of Bogota street artists who go by aliases such as Joems and the MonsTruacioN collective. (Photo by Fernando Vergara/AP Photo)

A man wearing a “Pinhead” mask walks through the grounds of St Mary's Church, Whitby, during the Whitby Gothic festival taking place this weekend, on April 27, 2014. The twice yearly event attracts Goths from across the UK and beyond to the historic fishing town and is a great boost to the local economy. (Photo by Anna Gowthorpe/PA Wire)

Heimana Reynolds of USA in action during a training session prior to the World Skate Park World Championships at the Parque Candido Portin​ari in Sao Paulo, Brazil, 11 September 2019. (Photo by Sebastião Moreira/EPA/EFE)