The competition is run by Royal Observatory Greenwich sponsored by Insight Investment and in association with BBC Sky at Night Magazine. This year astrophotographers from 91 countries sent in more than 4,200 spectacular entries. Here: The Milky Way rises above an isolated lighthouse in Tasmania. Shot by James Stone of Australia. (Photo by James Stone/Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018)

Police and the Russian National Guard (Rosgvardia) servicemen patrol Red Square in front of the Spasskaya tower of the Kremlin in Moscow on October 24, 2022, as part of security reinforcement measures. (Photo by Alexander Nemenov/AFP Photo)

Students of the Ballet Academy prepare to perform during the school annual ceremony in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, April 1, 2022. (Photo by Hadi Mizban/AP Photo)

A woman holds her umbrella while walking against strong winds as Typhoon Chan-hom approaches Taiwan, in Taipei, July 10, 2015. (Photo by Pichi Chuang/Reuters)

The Perseid Meteor Shower seen over The Scorhill Stone Circle in Dartmoor, Devon on August 2, 2016. (Photo by John Baker/SWNS.com)

Paul Kerr was able to capture this stunning vista of the aurora australis from Canberra, New Zealand on June 1, 2025. (Photo by Paul Kerr/Hold Still Photography)

An Afghan Army soldier secures the hill overlooking the Kart-e Sakhi mosque in Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, March 20, 2013. Thousands of Afghans will celebrate Nowruz on Thursday, March 21, 2013 to mark the first day of spring and the beginning of the year on the Iranian calendar. (Photo by Ahmad Jamshid/AP Photo)

A row of abandoned oil tanks is filled with creepers on the riverside of Liyun River in Huai 'an, East China's Jiangsu Province, May 9, 2023. (Photo credit should read CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images)