Sharafkhaneh port and lake Urmia. Masoud Ghadiri (Iran). The summer Milky Way is very prominent in this photo. On the galaxy zone, Saturn is located besides the Lagoon nebula. On the right of the horizon, you can see the extreme light pollution of Urmia, which is caused by ever-increasing city development. (Photo by Masoud Ghadiri/National Maritime Museum)

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)

English singer and songwriter Dua Lipa performs during the Brit Awards 2021 at the O2 Arena, London, Tuesday, May 11, 2021. (Photo by Ian West/PA Wire via AP Photo)

A resident reacts as a health worker collects a swab sample to test for the Covid-19 coronavirus in Colombo on July 27, 2021. (Photo by Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP Photo)

Children ride on the back of a truck at a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Marib, Yemen on September 9, 2021. (Photo by Ali Owidha/Reuters)

Japanese monkeys look relaxed as they soak in a hot spring at the Hakodate Tropical Botanical Garden in Hakodate in Hokkaido, northern Japan, on January 14, 2022. (Photo by Kyodo News/Action Press via Reuters)

A veterinarian inspects a cow for foot-mouth-disease ahead of Eid al-Adha, the feast of the sacrifice marking the end of the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca and commemorates Prophet Abraham's readiness to sacrifice his son to show obedience to Allah, at a cowshed in Lambaro, Aceh province on July 7, 2022. (Photo by Chaideer Mahyuddin/AFP Photo)

A grizzly bear waves its paw at a vehicle on the road to Nemrut Crater Lake in Tatvan district of Bitlis, Turkiye on August 24, 2023. (Photo by Muhammed Selim Korkutata/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)