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)

An image taken with a drone shows beach umbrellas and deck chairs as beachgoers enjoy the hot weather in Scheveningen, the Netherlands, 24 July 2019. The Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute has issued an official warning due to high temperatures affecting the country as well as Western Europe. (Photo by Sem van der Wal/EPA/EFE)

A pack of wild smooth-coated otters, nicknamed the “Zouk family”, crosses Penang Road in Singapore on March 3, 2021, the World Wildlife Day. The “Zouks”, a well-known otter family in Singapore, started out from the Istana on Wednesday, and made a “royal” tour of various landmarks in Singapore. (Photo by Chine Nouvelle/SIPA Press/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

(L-R) Canadian actor Patrick J. Adams as Michael Ross and American member of the British royal family and a former actress Meghan Markle as Rachel Zane at “Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner”, Episode 402 in April 2014. (Photo by Ian Watson/USA Network/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)

Belgium's Crown Princess Elisabeth, center, marches past the Royal tribune with cadets of the military school during the National Day parade in Brussels, Wednesday, July 21, 2021. Belgium celebrates its National Day on Wednesday in a scaled down version due to coronavirus, COVID-19 measures. (Photo by Olivier Matthys/AP Photo)

Rummaging in a bin for scraps, this fox in Barnet, north London, England found itself trapped in the lid on May 23, 2019. Luckily the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals were able to free it. (Photo by RSPCA/PA Wire Press Association)

Principal of the Royal Ballet, Natalia Osipova, performs outside the Edinburgh International Conference Centre in Edinburgh, England on November 21, 2018, where she is starring in the new contemporary ballet “The Mother”. (PHoto by Jane Barlow/PA Wire via ZUMA Press)

Indian Hindu sadhus (holy men) from the Juna Akhara take part in a religious procession towards Sangam area, during the first “royal entry” for the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad on December 25, 2018. (Photo by Sanjay Kanojia/AFP Photo)