Mermaid Hales Parcells geets children as she performs at the Virginia Aquarium in Virginia Beach, Va., Monday, April 3, 2017. The Aquarium presents a mermaid show one night each week during the month of April. (Photo by Steve Helber/AP Photo)

For the Torajan people of Indonesia, death is part of a spiritual journey: families keep the mummified remains of their deceased relatives in their homes for years – and traditionally invite them to join for lunch on a daily basis – before they are eventually buried. Here: Todeng died in 2009. A young relative of his, Sam, lights him a cigarette and changes his glasses. (Photo by Claudio Sieber Photography/The Guardian)

A farmer harvests apples at an apple orchard on October 10, 2020 in Yiyuan County, Shandong Province of China. (Photo by Zhao Dongshan/VCG via Getty Images)

Giving out with a yell, Elke Sommer is tossed on the trampoline as she trains for her movie role as an athlete, on the playing field of the University of California at Los Angeles, June 8, 1967. (Photo by AP Photo)

Members of the Mayossa folk dance group pour water on a young woman in Kiskunmajsa, Hungary on April 2, 2018. According to an old Hungarian tradition, celebrated for several hundred years, young men pour water on young women, who in exchange present their sprinklers with beautifully colored eggs on Easter Monday. (Photo by Sandor Ujvari/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Nicolo Martinenghi of Italy competes in the Men's 50m Breaststroke Final on day six of the 2022 FINA World Short Course Swimming Championships at Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre on December 18, 2022 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Daniel Pockett/Getty Images)

An Indian artist gives the finishing touches to a figure of the elephant-headed Hindu god Ganesha at a workshop ahead of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in New Delhi on September 15, 2015. The idol is meant for the forthcoming festival Ganesha Chaturthi, a ten-day long event which is celebrated all over India. During the Ganpati festival, that is celebrated as the birthday of Lord Ganesha, idols of the Hindu deity are worshipped at hundreds of pandals or makeshift tents before they are immersed into water bodies. This year, the festival starts on 17 September 2015. (Photo by Sajjad Hussain/AFP Photo)

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)