The World Bodypainting Festival held from July 4 to 6 at Lake Worthersee in Austria's southern Carinthia province included artists from around the world, drawing visitors to the “Mecca of Bodypainting”, according to the World Bodypainting Association. Photo: World Bodypainting Festival 2014. Photographed July 4th in Poertschach am Woerthersee, Austria July 4, 2014. (Photo by Jan Hetfleisch/Getty Images)

“Elat’ma, the Ryazan Oblast region of Russia. This small town is only 300 kilometers (186 miles) from modern Moscow but remains 60 years in the past, dominated by the spirit of socialism. The air of the communist ‘50s can be seen in the town’s architecture, celebrations and other occurrences. But neither its beauty nor its ties to a socialist past brought photographer Anastasia Rudenko to this village. Elat’ma is unique in that it functions as a town for mentally disabled people”. – Michelle Cohan via CNN. (Photo by Anastasia Rudenko)

Apple CEO Tim Cook discusses the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 plus on Tuesday, September 9, 2014, in Cupertino, Calif. The iPhone 6 will have a screen measuring 4.7 inches, while the iPhone 6 Plus will be 5.5 inches. (Photo by Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP Photo)

Kenyan women protest for the right to wear whichever clothes they want, at a demonstration in downtown Nairobi, Kenya Monday, November 17, 2014. A recent incident in which a mob of men surrounded a woman and tore her clothes off, leaving her naked on the street in front of a bus stop after alleging that she was improperly dressed, is one of several such videos that have surfaced online in recent days leading to a groundswell of anger that on Monday prompted around 1000 demonstrators, including a number of men supporting the women's cause, to march through the capital and protest online using the hashtag #MyDressMyChoice. (Photo by Ben Curtis/AP Photo)

Papai Simon Ole Mamai of the Maasai Cricket Warriors team from Kenya runs during a match against English team “The Shed” during “The Last Man Stands” cricket tournament at Dulwich sports ground in South London September 1, 2013. (Photo by Philip Brown/Reuters)

The Royal Observatory just announced its Astronomy Photographer Of The Year 2013 winners. Australian photographer Mark Gee was chosen among a thousand amateur and professional photographers around the globe to win the top title. His work is part of an exhibition of the winning photographers, which opened on Sept. 19 at the Royal Observatory Greenwich. The Royal Observatory shared with us the winners and notable mentions of the competition. Their descriptions of the prizewinners can be found below the images.

Filipino typhoon survivor children, who escaped after their village was attacked by allegedly armed men, wait for social workers in the super typhoon devastated city of Tacloban, Leyte province, Philippines, 13 November 2013. Aid workers and relief supplies were being poured into eastern provinces hit by Typhoon Haiyan, which aid agencies and officials estimated has left thousands dead and staggering destruction in its wake. The official death toll in the Philippines from one of the world’s strongest typhoons rose to 1,833, the national disaster relief agency said with many towns still unaccounted for. (Photo by Dennis M. Sabangan/EPA)

“APOPO’s Training Center, situated on Sokoine Univeristy of Agriculture (SUA) in Tanzania, was established in 2000 to accommodate training and testing of mine detection rats in near-to-real conditions”. – APOPO

Photo: MDR (Mine Detection Rat) learn to look for mines. (Photo by APOPO's HeroRATs)