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)

Pierre Thivillon (R), director of the zoological park of Saint-Martin-La-Plaine and his wife Eliane look at Digit, an 18-year-old female gorilla, on August 19, 2016, in Saint-Martin-La-Plaine between Lyon and Saint-Etienne, southeastern France. The zoological park of Saint-Martin-La-Plaine is a shelter for beasts seized by the justice. (Photo by Philippe Desmazes/AFP Photo)

Suzanne Cryer poses for a portrait at the Television Academy's 67th Emmy Awards Performers Nominee Reception at the Pacific Design Center on Saturday, September 19, 2015 in West Hollywood, Calif. (Photo by Casey Curry/Invision for the Television Academy/AP Images)

Singer Rihanna prepares for a photoshoot with photographer Annie Leibovitz in Havana, Cuba, May 28, 2015. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Supporters of the presidential candidate Muhammadu Buhari and his All Progressive Congress hits another supporter with a motorbike during celebrations in Kano, Nigeria March 31, 2015. (Photo by Goran Tomasevic/Reuters)

Iraqis who have fled fighting between security forces and al-Qaida inspired militants in their hometown of Tal Afar arrive in a car at Germawa camp for displaced Iraqis, in a hot dusty plain in the largely-autonomous Kurdish area of Dahuk, 260 miles (430 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad Tuesday, June 17, 2014. (Photo by AP Photo)

Rickshaw drivers wade through a flooded road after heavy rains swept through Guwahati, in the northeastern Indian state of Assam, on June 26, 2014. Seven people have been killed there in flash floods, landslides and heavy rainfall, local media reported Friday. (Photo by Utpal Baruah/Reuters)

Pro-Russian rebels stand near a monument during a ceremony to honour the World War Two defenders of Donetsk from Nazi forces, in Donetsk, in this September 8, 2014 file photo. (Photo by Marko Djurica/Reuters)