The Mile O' Mud is a 7/8-mile oval track with a 1/8-mile diagonal lane slashed through the center. The racing lanes are approximately 60 feet wide. On average, the muddy water is four to six feet deep, with three strategically placed holes. The largest hole, located in front of the grandstand, is the treacherous “Sippy Hole”, named for the legendary driver “Mississippi” Milton Morris, Swamp Buggy King 1955, who repeatedly got stuck in it. (Photo by Malcolm Lightner)

The city of Meroë laid undiscovered for two millennia before British archaeologist John Garstang excavated it in the early 20th century. Garstang took the radical decision to document his discoveries with photography – and immortalised an ancient world. “Meroë: Africa’s Forgotten Empire” is being shown until 14 September at Garstang Museum of Archaeology, Liverpool. Here: A group visiting the excavations at Meroë, including (from left) Midwinter Bey, director of Sudan Railways; Lord Kitchener; General Sir Francis Reginald Wingate, Sirdar of the Egyptian Army; Professor Archibald Sayce; John Garstang; and Lady Catherine Wingate, 1911. (Photo by Garstang Museum of Archaeology)

Some of the best entries so far in the 2016 Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. There are two weeks left to enter, and the winners will be announced in September. Here: Aurora over Laksvatn Fjord, Laksvatn, Norway. The aurora borealis dances in the skies over the town of Laksvatn, with the Milky Way to the left. The image is a single shot with no compositing, only post-processing to bring out the aurora, and some colour corrections. The photographer Matt Walford said: “I love the way the northern lights look like they are just wistfully dancing over the fjord, framed by the mountains on either side”. (Photo by Matt Walford/National Maritime Museum)

Chris Staring photographs a mysterious train graveyard in the heart of southern Bolivia, where the skeletons of British steam locomotives and rail cars rust away on the edge of the world’s largest salt flats. More than 100 rail cars and locomotives can be found in different states of decay in the train graveyard. (Photo by Chris Staring/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A shooting star (L, top) is seen on the night sky during the perseid meteor shower in Jankowo, near Poznan, 11 August 2016. The first half of August is traditionally the best time to look out for meteors called “shooting stars”, or perseids which are the leftover dust particles of a comet tail associated with comet Swift-Tuttle. (Photo by Lukasz Ogrodowczyk/EPA)

People take pictures of the sun rising next to the buildings of the banking district in Frankfurt, Germany, Saturday, December 28, 2019. (Photo by Michael Probst/AP Photo)

Photographer John Fatkin captured these jaw-dropping images of a rainbow and ferry on the River Tyne, England, with the iconic red-painted Herd Groyne Lighthouse. (Photo by Tom Fatkin/Cover Images)

Horses compete during the 21st Dubai International Arabian Horse Championship with the participation of 205 horses from many countries in Dubai, UAE on March 24, 2024. (Photo by Waleed Zein/Anadolu via Getty Images)