Some of the best entries so far in the 2016 Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. There are two weeks left to enter, and the winners will be announced in September. Here: Aurora over Laksvatn Fjord, Laksvatn, Norway. The aurora borealis dances in the skies over the town of Laksvatn, with the Milky Way to the left. The image is a single shot with no compositing, only post-processing to bring out the aurora, and some colour corrections. The photographer Matt Walford said: “I love the way the northern lights look like they are just wistfully dancing over the fjord, framed by the mountains on either side”. (Photo by Matt Walford/National Maritime Museum)

Japanese artist Megumi Igarashi, known as Rokudenashiko, holds her artwork after a news conference following a court appearance in Tokyo April 15, 2015. A Japanese artist on trial for obscenity after making figurines and a kayak modeled on her v*gina said on Wednesday that there was nothing wrong with her artwork and her arrest merely showed how far Japan remains behind the west. Words in the artwork read “Centre. 3D scan”. (Photo by Toru Hanai/Reuters)

A Sri Lankan child uses an inflatable tube to wade through floodwaters after heavy rains in Biyagama suburb of Colombo, Sri Lanka, 06 June 2021. Many parts of the island have been inundated due to heavy monsoon rains. According to the Sri Lanka Disaster Management Center, at least 14 people have been killed so far and more than 245,212 people affected across the country. (Photo by Chamila Karunarathne/EPA/EFE)

A man in Yakutsk, the capital of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) in the Russian Far East on November 23, 2021. Located in Tuimaada Valley on the Lena River, Yakutsk is the largest city in the permafrost zone. On 23 November 2021, the daytime temperature ranged between –35 and –31 degrees Celsius in Yakutsk. On the night between 22 and 23 November, the temperature went down to –37 degrees Celsius. (Photo by Vadim Skryabin/TASS)

A woman wearing a mask to help protect against the spread of coronavirus, tries to communicate with Efe, a cat living in Kugulu public garden, in Ankara, Turkey, Monday, November 30, 2020.Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced Monday the most widespread lockdown so far amid a surge in COVID-19 infections, extending curfews to weeknights and full lockdowns over weekends. (Photo by Burhan Ozbilici/AP Photo)

Holloways Beach resident Lisa Methven watches the storm across the Coral Sea as Cyclone Jasper approaches landfall in Cairns in far north Queensland on December 13, 2023. A tropical cyclone was building strength as it rolled towards northeastern Australia on December 13, with authorities warning “life-threatening” floods could swamp coastal regions for days. (Photo by Brian Cassey/AFP Photo)

Indian girl, Amrita Bannerjee, gets dressed as the Goddess Durga, during Kumari Puja ritual as part of the Durga Puja festival at Shidaspur village, far north of Kolkata, India, 30 September 2025. During the Kumari Puja, devotees worship a girl aged between six and twelve, symbolizing the Kanya Kumari (virgin) form of the Goddess Durga Devi. Hindu devotees believe that Kanya is a living embodiment of the goddess Durga. (Photo by Piyal Adhikary/EPA)

Comedians and cast members from the Pleasance's 2016 programme bounce on yellow spacehoppers in costume at Calton Hill on August 15, 2016 in Edinburgh, Scotland. The Pleasance and Waverley Care are marking a twenty five years in partnership, it's a unique relationship that helps raise awareness and challenges the stigma that continues to be attached to HIV and Hepatitis C and has raised more than £375,000 so far. (Photo by Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images)