On August 31, 2012, a long filament of solar material that had been hovering in the sun's atmosphere, the corona, erupted out into space at 4:36 p.m. EDT. The coronal mass ejection, or CME, traveled at over 900 miles per second. The CME did not travel directly toward Earth, but did connect with Earth's magnetic environment, or magnetosphere, causing aurora to appear on the night of Monday, September 3. (Photo by NASA/GSFC/SDO via The Atlantic)

A displaced Pakistani girl collects recyclable goods from a garbage to earn living for her family in Islamabad, Pakistan, Tuesday, January 19, 2016. (Photo by B.K. Bangash/AP Photo)

Hindu devotees laugh as they watch the religious festival of Lathmar Holi, where women beat the men with sticks, in the town of Barsana in the Uttar Pradesh region of India, March 17, 2016. During Lathmar Holi the women of Barsana beat the men from Nandgaon, the hometown of Krishna, with wooden sticks in response to their teasing. (Photo by Cathal McNaughton/Reuters)

“The fantastic landscape of Bagan in Myanmar features hundreds of temples and pagodas as far as the eye can see. Experiencing this sight at dawn from the basket of a hot air balloon will remain engraved in my memory for ever. Mick Ryan, judge – What a magical photograph and place. The Buddhist temples and pagodas fill the plains of Bagan in Myanmar at sunrise… the golden hour providing beautiful light to illuminate the retrogression of the temples and balloons toward a misty, mountainous distance. An excellent, exotic photograph that makes you want to book a flight”. (Photo by Alastair Swan/The Guardian)

A Sikh devotee carries on over-sized religious sword during a religious procession to celebrate the birth anniversary of the first Sikh Guru or master, Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the founder of Sikhism in Amritsar, India, 05 November 2014. The birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji will be observed on 06 November. (Photo by Raminder Pal Singh/EPA)

Shortlisted: “Two big eyes” by Miao Yong (Zejiang province, China). Damselflies look over the leaves. “I was photographing insects in a park near my home when suddenly I found two damselflies in the grass. They kept flying and it was very difficult to focus until suddenly they parked behind a leaf”. (Photo by Miao Yong/2017 Royal Society of Biology Photographer of the Year)

Pashtan Wagner, a Blue Oriental Cat participates in the GCCF Supreme Cat Show at National Exhibition Centre on October 28, 2017 in Birmingham, England. (Photo by Shirlaine Forrest/WireImage)