Texas state troopers in riot gear try to break up a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Texas, during the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Austin, Texas, April 24, 2024. (Photo by Jay Janner/USA Today Network via Reuters)

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)

Love Island babe Jessica Hayes has wild night out with Ryan Mira at Bubbles Beach Club and SoHo nightclub in Liverpool, England on September 8, 2016. (Photo by Danny Ryan/iCelebTV)

A kite flying contest is held in Nantong, east China's Jiangsu featuring various kites of different shapes on December 20, 2017. (Photo by SIPA Asia/Pacific Press/Barcroft Images)

Charli XCX performs on day three of the Pitchfork Music Festival at Union Park on July 21, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)

A camel calf is seen among a herd in the desert near Dakhla in Morocco-administered Western Sahara, on October 13, 2019. In the Oued Eddahab desert in Western Sahara, Habiboullah Dlimi raises dairy and racing camels just like his ancestors used to, but with a little help from modern technology. While his animals roam free and are milked traditionally, by hand, at dawn and dusk, they are watched over by hired herders and Dlimi follows GPS coordinates across the desert in a 4X4 vehicle to reach them. (Photo by Fadel Senna/AFP Photo)

A close up of a caracal lynx's face looking into a camera on January 2014 in Western Cape, South Africa. (Photo by Dale Morris/Barcroft Media)

A person stops to take a picture of the sun setting behind the San Francisco skyline as seen from Grizzly Peak Boulevard in Oakland, Calif., Thursday, Dec. 31, 2020. (Photo by Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group via AP Photo)