The competition is run by Royal Observatory Greenwich sponsored by Insight Investment and in association with BBC Sky at Night Magazine. This year astrophotographers from 91 countries sent in more than 4,200 spectacular entries. Here: The Milky Way rises above an isolated lighthouse in Tasmania. Shot by James Stone of Australia. (Photo by James Stone/Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018)

These eye-catching photographs capture the special relationship between a group of farmers and elephants – with a gorgeous sunset in the background. Vithun Khamsong, a civil engineer, shot the images earlier this year while visiting Surin, Thailand. (Photo by Vithun Khamsong/Caters News Agency)

Czechia's Karolina Muchova plays a shot between her legs to Italy's Jasmine Paolini during their quarterfinal match at the United Cup tennis tournament in Sydney, Australia, Friday, January 3, 2025. (Photo by Rick Rycroft/AP Photo)

Paul Dixon is an engineer by day and an astrophotographer by night. He shot this broken boat on Dungeness beach, Kent in the last decade of August 2024, 17 times, stacking the images upon each other before combining them with a similar composite of the Milky Way. (Photo by Paul Dixon/Media Drum Images)

A Sri Lankan man use a scarf as a protective mask as he waits for a swab test at a locked-down area in Colombo, Sri Lanka, 14 May 2020. The Sri Lankan government has started lifting most of the restrictions implemented nearly two months ago in a bid to slow down the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus causing the COVID-19 disease and is preparing for a full reopening of businesses and a resumption of activities to avoid an economic slump. (Photo by Chamila Karunarathne/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A visitor falls down as they run away from a wave caused by a tidal bore which surged past a barrier on the banks of Qiantang River, in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China, October 28, 2015. (Photo by Reuters/China Daily)

“I have seen batches of banknotes worth more than $2.6 million, but beyond all doubt, gold bars look much more attractive!”. – Shamil Zhumatov. Photo: Cooling-down gold ingot. March 14, 2013; Tien Shan mountains, Kyrgyzstan. (Photo by Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters)

Attnedees dressed in Zombie outfits walk down the Gaslamp Quarter outside of the 2015 Comic-Con International in San Diego, California July 8, 2015. (Photo by Sandy Huffaker/Reuters)