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)

Ice Age – Tibet, China. “This is the Chinese version of the blue ice lake, Pumoungcuo, at an altitude of 5,070 metres (16,600 feet). This lake in Tibet freezes every winter. At night, under the low temperatures of -20C, you can listen to the sound of the ice cracking while capturing the most beautiful winter sky. The blue ice surface and dazzling Orion constellation create a fantasy landscape. I felt so happy to have the stars as my companion on this magical night”. (Photo by Daniel Zafra Portill/Milky Way Photographer of the Year)

Women Wrestlers, Bolivia. Lucha libre (Bolivian wrestling) is one of the most popular sports in the country. Women wrestlers are known as cholitas and have in the last ten years become popular in the sport. Here, Carmen Rosa and Yulia la Pacena perform in a benefit show to raise money for the bathrooms of a school in La Paz, Bolivia, 26 June 2011. (Photo by Daniele Tamagni)

“The Spanish Civil War (The Crusade among Nationalists, Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans) was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939. An estimated total of 500,000 people lost their lives as a consequence of the War”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Women were among the Republican combatants during the Spanish Civil War. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images). 1936

A view of one of the stands during the inauguration of the Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) fair, the largest audiovisual show in the world, in Barcelona city, Catalonia, north-eastern Spain, 31 January 2023. The event runs until 03 February, gathers 68,000 registered attendees and 1,055 exhibiting companies. (Photo by Quique Garcia/EPA)

Protestors from the Extinction Rebellion march on day six of protests stopping traffic in the city district of Melbourne, Australia on October 12, 2019. (Photo by ydney Low/ZUMA Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A full moon rising over the Re Island Bridge in Rivedoux, France is pictured on December 14, 2016. (Photo by Xavier Leoty/AFP Photo)

“Still” also known as the “Mirror Man”, created by artist Rob Mulholland which symbolises the physical and spiritual relationship between humans and the natural world, has returned to Loch Earn in St. Fillans on May 9, 2025 after being removed in 2017 due to storm damage. (Photo by Lesley Martin)