A Hindu priest waits to perform prayers next to Tejas, India's first locally-built Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), before its induction into the Indian Air Force at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Airport in Bengaluru, India, July 1, 2016. (Photo by Abhishek N. Chinnappa/Reuters)

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)

Czech Republic's Jakub Mensik celebrates after winning the men's singles quarter-final match against Russia's Andrey Rublev at the ATP Qatar Open tennis tournament in Doha on February 22, 2024. (Photo by Karim Jaafar/AFP Photo)

Switzerland's Lea Sprunger in action during the 300m hurdles race during the Weltklasse Zurich Inspiration Games, a virtual international athletics meeting with 30 athletes in eight disciplines at seven venues worldwide, in the Letzigrund stadium in Zurich, Switzerland, Thursday, July 9, 2020. (Photo by Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters)

Portrait category, bronze award winner. Purple-crested Turaco Gallirex porphyreolophus. Lower Mpushini, near Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. (Photo by Richard Flack/Bird Photographer of the Year 2022)

Steve Shirts, aka “Strike Pony”, left, gets a hug from Amber Snyder, aka “Ditsy Dots” in Baltimore, MD on July 8, 2016. Both are from Suburban Chicago. BronyCon is the world's largest My Pretty Pony convention. Featuring cosplay and fan events, the annual convention was held at the Baltimore Convention Center. (Photo by Andre Chung/The Washington Post)

French artist Christophe Guinet, also known as “Mr Plant”, works on his plant shoe creation “Wood”, part of the artistic project “Just Grow It”, in his art gallery in Marseille, November 25, 2014. Guinet transforms name-brand Nike sneakers, cult footwear for urban youth, into vegetable compositions, creating a collection of artwork with trainers modified with tree bark, foam and flowers. (Photo by Jean-Paul Pelissier/Reuters)