Some of the best entries so far in the 2016 Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. There are two weeks left to enter, and the winners will be announced in September. Here: Aurora over Laksvatn Fjord, Laksvatn, Norway. The aurora borealis dances in the skies over the town of Laksvatn, with the Milky Way to the left. The image is a single shot with no compositing, only post-processing to bring out the aurora, and some colour corrections. The photographer Matt Walford said: “I love the way the northern lights look like they are just wistfully dancing over the fjord, framed by the mountains on either side”. (Photo by Matt Walford/National Maritime Museum)

Dutch artist Maxim Gazendam works on his sand sculpture during the third edition of the European Championship Sand Sculpting 2014 in Zandvoort aan Zee, The Netherlands, 08 August 2014. Eight sculptors from different European countries will each create an impressive sculpture on the main theme “Music and Dance”. (Photo by Remko De Waal/EPA)

When you think of the People's Liberation Army, you probably don't think of line dancing. But the Chinese military's latest online recruiting video makes a soldier's life look more fun than the macarena. The brief spot, posted last week on the website of the Ministry of National Defense and going viral, features tanks and fighter jets, as well as soldiers dancing in rows to a quirky hit tune by the Chopsticks Brothers called “Little Apple”. Its lyrics include, “You are my little dear little apple/I can never stop loving you”.

Completion is near on Monaco's tallest skyscraper ever, and its first new one since the 1980s. Fueled by a luxury-housing boom in the tax-haven nation, the Odeon Tower's so-called Sky Penthouse is expected to sell for more than any other apartment in the world has ever sold before. Photo: The five-story Sky Penthouse is expected to be complete in September 2015. The water slide extends from a dance floor in the residence down to a private infinity pool. (Photo by Tour Odeon)

“Emmy” award-winning cinematographer, Shawn Heinrichs teamed up with model and diver Hannah Fraser to carry out a unique underwater conservation fashion shoot in a remote location in the South Pacific Ocean. The pair are aiming to raise awareness for the plight of the marine mammals at the hands of whalers. During the ten day shoot Fraser swam and glided with pilot and humpback whales. Photo: “In this startling image model Hannah Fraser appears to be “dancing” with the giant whale ”. (Photo by Shawn Heinrichs/Barcroft Media)

HRP-4C, a five-foot humanoid robot developed at Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, sings and dances with performers at the Digital Contents Expo in Tokyo on October 17, 2010. The robot runs entertainment software called Choreonoid, a name formed from the words “choreograph” and “humanoid”. (Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP)

Underwater photographer of the year – winner. Dancing Octopus by Gabriel Barathieu (France). Location: Island of Mayotte, off the coast of south-east Africa. “Balletic and malevolent”, one judge said of this octopus, hunting in a lagoon. Barathieu waited until spring tides when there was just 30cm of water on the flats and plenty of light in the shallows. (Photo by Gabriel Barathieu/UPY2017)

Auditioning performers follow resident choreographer Erik Sorensen, center back, at the Sydney Dance Company in a routine during castings in Moulin Rouge's current show “Féerie”, in Sydney, Australia, Thursday, July 28, 2016. The show's artistic team is in Australia to choose new talent to perform with one of the most famous cabarets that has been illuminating Paris since 1889. (Photo by Rob Griffith/AP Photo)