Aurorae category runner-up: Lone Tree under a Scandinavian Aurora by Tom Archer (UK). The photographer decided to explore the area around the hotel on a very crisp -35C evening in Finnish Lapland. When he found this tree, he decided to wait for the misty conditions to change and could not believe his luck when the sky cleared and the aurora came out in the perfect spot. Archer spent about an hour photographing it before his camera started to lock up because of the harsh conditions, but by then he was happy to call it a night. (Photo by Tom Archer/2020 Astronomy Photographer of the Year)

This handout photograph released by Taipei City Zoo on July 11, 2013 shows a newly-born panda cub of giant panda Yuan Yuan in an incubator at Taipei Zoo in Taipei. The public will have to wait three months to catch a glimpse of the first panda born in Taiwan, officials said after she was successfully delivered by parents who were gifted from China. (Photo by AFP Photo/Taipei City Zoo)

Two traditional folk dancers performing in Teheran, Iran. (Photo by Keystone Features/Getty Images). 25th January 1961

A young worshipper holds a lotus flower as Buddhist monks gather at Wat Arun Buddhist temple during Asaha Bucha day in Bangkok on July 20, 2024. (Photo by Chanakarn Laosarakham/AFP Photo)

People take part in fake festival called “La Boum” organized by an anonymous group of people on Facebook for an April 1 joke at the Bois de la Cambre, in Brussels, Belgium, 01 April 2021. An anonymous group created a Facebook event called “La Boum”, touting an alleged festival to take place with famous DJs as headliners. Thousands of people on social media had shown interest to take part in the gathering, while police have advised that no authorization has been given for a music event. (Photo by Stephanie Lecocq/EPA/EFE)

A man helps an elderly woman to run for cover after heavy shelling on the only escape route used by locals, while Russian troops advance towards the capital, in Irpin, near Kyiv, Ukraine on March 6, 2022. (Photo by Carlos Barria/Reuters)

Passengers take photos at a wildfire while traveling on a train in Zamora, Spain, Monday, July 18, 2022. When Francisco Seoane's train unexpectedly stopped in Spanish countryside that was being engulfed by a wildfire, he and other passengers got a fright when they looked out at flames encroaching on both sides of the track. The Spaniard told The Associated Press it was scary to see how quickly the fire spread. Video of the unscheduled – and unnerving – stop shows about a dozen passengers in Seoane's railcar appearing alarmed as they look out of the windows Monday. (Photo by Francisco Seoane Perez/AP Photo)

Patrick Fellows #21, Allan McShane #26, Carson Edwardson #8 and Shaun Bily #23 of the Erie Otters sit on the bench during the first period of an OHL game against the Niagara IceDogs at the Meridian Centre on October 6, 2016 in St Catharines, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)