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)

2016 Rio Olympics, Weightlifting, Final, Women's 69kg, Riocentro, Pavilion 2, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on August 10, 2016. Leidy Solis (COL) of Colombia competes. (Photo by Stoyan Nenov/Reuters)

Women perform yoga on a dried river bank in Yunyang county, Chongqing Municipality, August 21, 2016. (Photo by Reuters/China Daily)

A vehicle leaves light trails in a long exposure photograph as it drives beneath the 500-metre Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope in Pingtang county, China. Construction on the device began in 2011 and is nearing completion. (Photo by Liu Xu/AP Photo)

CANADA: Stanley Ferdinand filets large trout he caught in Great Bear Lake in Deline, Northwest Territories, Canada September 8, 2016. (Photo by Pat Kane/Reuters)

Tsukimi Ayano steps out of her house in the village of Nagoro on Shikoku Island in southern Japan February 24, 2015. Tsukimi Ayano made her first scarecrow 13 years ago to frighten off birds pecking at seeds in her garden. The life-sized straw doll resembled her father, so she made more. Today, the tiny village of Nagoro in southern Japan is teeming with Ayano's hand-sewn creations, frozen in time for a tableau that captures the motions of everyday life. (Photo by Thomas Peter/Reuters)

In this photo taken on Sunday, March 15, 2015, a Nenets woman rides steers a sled during a reindeer race at the Reindeer Herder's Day in the city of Nadym, in Yamal-Nenets Region, 2500 kilometers (about 1553 miles) northeast of Moscow, Russia. For the indigenous nomadic Nenets people, the Reindeer Herder's Day offers a chance to show their prowess in wrestling, high jumps and other traditional local sports, but, above all, reindeer races. (Photo by Dmitry Lovetsky/AP Photo)

Russian soldiers from 34th motorized infantry mountain brigade, 58th Army, prepare to evacuate a fellow soldier acting as an injured person during a drill at the Darial range outside Russia's city of Vladikavkaz, July 28, 2010. (Photo by Kazbek Basayev/Reuters)