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)

A star-spangled spectator takes in a perfect Sunday afternoon, November 3, 2024 for stock-car racing. About 50,000 fans turned up for Sunday afternoon’s Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia. (Photo by Lauren Caulk/The Guardian)

Miley Cyrus attends the 82nd Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., January 5, 2025. (Photo by Daniel Cole/Reuters)

UK Love Island’s Anna May Robey (R) flashes her underboob in a tiny bikini in the first decade of June 2023. She is currently holidaying in Marbella, Spain’s Costa del Sol with good friend Katie. (Photo by Instagram)

American model Lori Harvey attends the Tiffany & Co. Celebration of the launch of Blue Book 2024: Tiffany Céleste at The Beverly Estate on April 25, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for Tiffany & Co.)

A person gestures during the “NYC Dyke March” have a moment of silence for the LGBT community in Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S., June 26, 2021. (Photo by David Dee Delgado/Reuters)

School cheerleaders wearing protective masks pose for a photo as fellow students arrive for classes on the first day of school in Miami-Dade County at Barbara Goleman Senior High School, in Miami, Florida, August 23, 2021. (Photo by Marco Bello/Reuters)

American media personality Kylie Jenner has flaunted her perfectly sculpted abs in a white crop top and matching skirt in Los Angeles in the second decade of October 2022 just seven months after giving birth to her son. (Photo by Diggzy/Rex Features/Shutterstock)