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)

Activists stage a protest outside the Louvre pyramid, calling the museum to cancel its contracts with French oil giant Total and Italian oil company Eni, in Paris, France, December 9, 2015, as the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) continues at Le Bourget near the French capital. (Photo by Benoit Tessier/Reuters)

A tribesman loyal to the Houthi movement carries his rifle as he leaves a gathering held to show support for the group, in Yemen's capital Sanaa December 15, 2015. (Photo by Khaled Abdullah/Reuters)

Hot-air balloons glide over the historical Cappadocia region with Turkish flags to mark August 30 Turkiye's Victory Day in Nevsehir, Turkiye on August 30, 2023. (Photo by Behcet Alkan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

A model presents a creation for Iris Van Herpen during the Women's Haute-Couture Fall/Winter 2025-26 collection show in Paris, on July 7, 2025. (Photo by Thomas Samson/AFP Photo)

An athlete takes part in a warm-up around the track of the National Stadium in Tokyo on September 12, 2025, ahead of the World Athletics Championships. (Photo by Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP Photo)

A beachgoer walks past a buoy that washed ashore after Hurricane Isabel made landfall September 19, 2003 in Virginia Beach, Virginia. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

People walk under stands with balloons placed along the former Berlin Wall location at Mauerpark, which will be used in the installation “Lichtgrenze” (Border of Light) in Berlin November 7, 2014. A part of the inner city of Berlin will be temporarily divided from November 7 to 9, with a light installation featuring 8000 luminous white balloons to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. (Photo by Pawel Kopczynski/Reuters)