Nicki Minaj attends the Haider Ackermann show as part of the Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Fall/Winter 2017/2018 on March 4, 2017 in Paris, France. (Photo by Swan Gallet/WWD/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Now celebrating its 40th year, Nikon Small World is widely regarded as the leading forum to recognize proficiency and photographic excellence of photography taken under the microscope. To select the winners, competition judges analyzed entries from all over the world covering subjects ranging from chemical compounds to up-close-and-personal looks at biological specimens. The 2014 winners will be revealed on October 30th. In 2014, the competition received over 1,200 entries from more than 79 countries around the world. (Photo by Dr. Igor Robert Siwanowicz/Nikon Small World 2014)

The competition, which is run by the Royal Observatory Greenwich in association with BBC Sky at Night Magazine, is now in its sixth year and has received over 2,500 entries. Photo: Centre of the Heart Nebula by Ivan Eder (Hungary). Situated 7500 light years away in the “W”-shaped constellation of Cassiopeia, the Heart Nebula is a vast region of glowing gas, energized by a cluster of young stars at its centre. The image depicts the central region, where dust clouds are being eroded and moulded into rugged shapes by the searing cosmic radiation. (Photo by Ivan Eder)

A woman poses for a photo in the tourist area surrounding Houhai Lake during Chinese National Day holidays in Beijing, China, October 2, 2020. China is celebrating its national day marking the 71st anniversary of the People's Republic of China and the Mid-autumn Festival for a week beginning on October 1st. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)

Rajesh Babu, a police officer, wearing a helmet depicting coronavirus, requests a commuter to stay at home during a 21-day nationwide lockdown to limit the spreading of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Chennai, India, March 28, 2020. (Photo by P. Ravikumar/Reuters)

A cyclist rides the path around Lake Harriet on Memorial Day in Minneapolis on Monday, May 25, 2020. The area around the Lake Harriet Bandshell was busy but not crowded on Memorial Day evening. (Photo by Jeff Wheeler/Star Tribune via AP Photo)

People wearing face masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus enjoy a social dance at a public park in Beijing, Tuesday, January 12, 2021. Lockdowns have been expanded and a major political conference postponed in a province next to Beijing that is the scene of China's most serious recent COVID-19 outbreak. (Photo by Andy Wong/AP Photo)

A Sri Lankan Christian girl wears a Santa hair band and a face mask as a precaution against the coronavirus as she arrives at a church to attend the Christmas mass in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Friday, December 25, 2020. (Photo by Eranga Jayawardena/AP Photo)