These spectacular images of the universe are the finalists in the 2016 CWAS “David Malin” awards. The annual competition, which celebrates the best astronomy images taken by Australian photographers, is part of AstroFest 2016. The winners will be announced on 16 July. An associated exhibition opens the following day at the CSIRO Parkes Observatory visitors centre, and a second exhibition will also travel to selected venues around Australia. Here: Mars and its Rival Antares and the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex. (Photo by Phil Hart/CWAS/The Guardian)

Attracting more than 450 entries from around the world, the winners are selected by a panel of expert judges including ZSL honorary conservation fellow and television presenter Kate Humble, and renowned ornithologist Bill Oddie. Here: Anoura Geoffroy’s tailless bat by Nicolas Reusens. The Perfect Moment category; Adult runner up. (Photo by Nicolas Reusens/ZSL Animal Photography Prize 2015)

In this photo taken Sunday, October 5, 2014, a library official shows a 13th-century German prayer book containing the earliest evidence of the Yiddish language, at Israel's National Library in Jerusalem. This week, Israel's National Library gave The Associated Press a rare peek at a selection of rare historical manuscripts in its collection. (Photo by Sebastian Scheiner/AP Photo)

A zoo staff feeds crocodiles as visitors look on at the Malabon Zoo in Malabon City, north of Manila, Philippines 21 December 2017. Wearing Santa Claus hats for the upcoming Christmas season, owner Manny Tangco (R, holding megaphone) and some select animals gave visitors a tour of the 28-year-old zoo. (Photo by Rolex Dela Pena/EPA/EFE)

Men are held by Iraqi national security agents, to be interrogated at a checkpoint, as oil fields burn in Qayara, south of Mosul, Iraq, Saturday, November 5, 2016. Islamic State fighters launch counterattacks in the thin strip of territory Iraqi special forces have recaptured in eastern Mosul, highlighting the challenges ahead as the battle moves into more densely populated neighborhoods where coalition air power must be used more selectively. (Photo by Felipe Dana/AP Photo)

Models wait for their turn at an audition for the upcoming Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) Summer/Resort 2017 in Mumbai, India, 14 December 2016. Around 83 national and international models participated in the audition from which five got selected. The LFW Summer/Resort 2017 is scheduled to start from 01 to 05 February 2017. (Photo by Divyakant Solanki/EPA)

At a beauty contest to select the nation's Queen of Height during the first national convention of Tall People's Clubs in New York on July 29, 1949, little Charlie Young, only three feet, eleven inches tall, acting as judge, had a tough time making up his mind for the choice. The national minimum height requirement for women members is 5 feet 10 inches, and for men, 6 feet. (Photo by Robert Kradin/AP Photo)

A ballet student poses for a friend to take photos, at the national ballet school in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, December 12, 2019. The Soviet-style system that recruits children into a system of increasingly selective state dance schools has produced hundreds of elite dancers including Lorna Feijoo, Rolando Sarabia, Taras Domitro, Anette Delgado and Carlos Acosta. (Photo by Ramon Espinosa/AP Photo)