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)

Ice Age – Tibet, China. “This is the Chinese version of the blue ice lake, Pumoungcuo, at an altitude of 5,070 metres (16,600 feet). This lake in Tibet freezes every winter. At night, under the low temperatures of -20C, you can listen to the sound of the ice cracking while capturing the most beautiful winter sky. The blue ice surface and dazzling Orion constellation create a fantasy landscape. I felt so happy to have the stars as my companion on this magical night”. (Photo by Daniel Zafra Portill/Milky Way Photographer of the Year)

Kim Kardashian west and Madonna backstage at MDNA SKIN hosts Madonna and Kim Kardashian West for a beauty conversation at YouTube Space LA on March 6, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Madonna's MDNA SKIN)

The Cobra JoyRide car charger by Cobra Electronics is displayed during a press event at The Venetian for the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) January 8, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The JoyRide works with Android phones and can automatically trigger preset phone functions like enabling GPS or disabling Wi-Fi with the press of a single button. It will be available for USD 39 in the second quarter of 2012. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

This photo taken on March 29, 2017 shows a young woman offering shots of liquer at a dance bar in Walking Street in Pattaya. Two hours east of Bangkok, Pattaya's bawdy reputation hails from the Vietnam War era when US GIs partied in their downtime. (Photo by Roberto Schmidt/AFP Photo)

A participant wearing a motorcycle helmet gets sprayed with firecrackers, during the “Beehive Firecrackers” festival at the Yanshui district in Tainan, Taiwan on March 1, 2018. According to Taiwan's Tourism Bureau, the “beehive” festival started in the late 1885 as a request to the gods to spare Yanshui from a cholera outbreak which was making its way through the villages. (Photo by Tyrone Siu/Reuters)

In this Wednesday, March, 5, 2014 photo, Afghan female boxers practice at the Kabul Stadium boxing club, Afghanistan. The women, who are 18 and older, don't have much more than determination, and a trainer who runs them through their paces, watches as they spar, corrects their technique, tells them when to jab, how to protect themselves, when to power through with a left and then a right. (Photo by Massoud Hossaini/AP Photo)

A Poison Ivy and Boba Fet (Star Wars) cosplayer during the MCM Birmingham Comic Con at NEC Arena on March 18, 2017 in Birmingham, England. (Photo by Ollie Millington/Getty Images)