Most people know Nikon as a purveyor of pro and consumer-grade digital cameras. But the company's expertise with optics bleeds over into related markets – it's one of the science community's major suppliers of microscopes. And each year the company asks the community to send it some of their favorite images of tiny objects. A panel of scientists and journalists have chosen the best of this past year's submissions, which Nikon has placed on its Small World site.

Photo: Honorable Mention. “Snow crystal, illuminated with colored lights (5x)”. (Photo by Dr. Kenneth Libbrecht, California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Department of Physics, Pasadena, California, USA)

A visitor poses behind the artwork “Convergence” by artist Masarrat Fatima M Sulaimani and curated by Samar Kamel at the World Art Dubai fair at the Dubai World Trade Centre in the Gulf Emirate of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 08 October 2020. Around 2,000 art pieces are displaying at the sixth edition of the World Art Dubai fair which is running from 08 to 10 October 2020. (Photo by Ali Haider/EPA/EFE)

Gymnasts from the Pyongyang Circus Theater perform during Mother's Day Monday, November 16, 2020, in Pyongyang, North Korea. (Photo by Jon Chol Jin/AP Photo)

A passer-by takes a selfie with an extra newspaper reporting on President-elect Joe Biden's win in the U.S. presidential election, in Tokyo Sunday, November 8, 2020. The headline reads: “Mr. Biden Assured to win”. (Photo by Eugene Hoshiko/AP Photo)

A model presents creations from the 2023 Spring/Summer collection by Japanese designer Lim Asafuji for the label “pays des fees” during the Tokyo Fashion Week in Tokyo, Japan, 01 September 2022. The presentation of the 2023 Spring/Summer collections runs from 29 August to 03 September. (Photo by Franck Robichon/EPA/EFE)

A visitor views “Giant Pumpkin, no1” by British artist Anthea Hamilton during the Frieze Art Fair in Regents Park in London on October 12, 2022. The fair is open to the public 14–18 October. (Photo by Guy Bell/Alamy Live News)

Swimmers in fancy dress take part in a Christmas Day dip at Exmouth, Devon, England, Saturday, December 25, 2021. (Photo by Ben Birchall/PA Wire via AP Photo)

Visitors wear traditional hanbok dress as they walk on the grounds of the Gyeongbokgung Palace after a snowfall in Seoul on January 17, 2022. (Photo by Anthony Wallace/AFP Photo)