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)

Fashion models Darien Leigh and Valerie Drew play leap-frog on the beach. 2nd July 1956. (Photo by Harry Kerr). P.S. All pictures are presented in high resolution.

British model Jourdan Dunn and London-based hair stylist Issac Poleon attend an event to celebrate the Maximilian Autumn/Winter 2022 collection in The Green Room at The Londoner Hotel on February 20, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images for The Londoner Hotel)

English singer and songwriter Dua Lipa bends over for a sultry snap end of April 2022. (Photo by dualipa/Instagram)

Actress and model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley during an evening out and about in London, England on January 23, 2020. (Photo by Stephen Coke/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A raccoon crawls out of its hiding place on the roof in Berlin, Germany on May 12, 2020. Every evening he leaves his sleeping place to go in search of food. (Photo by Britta Pedersen/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa)

Since her stint in the 2019 Love Island villa, where she made the nation laugh, Irish television personality Maura Higgins has been working as a brand ambassador for Ann Summers. And the 31-year-old has really set pulses racing in her latest edit with the saucy lingerie brand. Available online and in stores from today, December 1, 2021, Maura has looks absolutely stunning in the new Ann Summers Christmas campaign which includes bodysuits and basques, two-piece sets, bras, and thongs in festive hues for the Christmas season. (Photo by Ann Summers/The Mega Agency)

A demonstration on March 15, 1922 on Palace Roof, 57th Street and 7th Avenue, showing the shellproof steel jacket. Leo Krause wearing the jacket, which weighs 12 pounds. Shots used, 38 and 45 calibre, at close range. (Photo by Bettmann Archive)