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)

These spectacular images of the universe are the finalists in the 2016 CWAS “David Malin” awards. The annual competition, which celebrates the best astronomy images taken by Australian photographers, is part of AstroFest 2016. The winners will be announced on 16 July. An associated exhibition opens the following day at the CSIRO Parkes Observatory visitors centre, and a second exhibition will also travel to selected venues around Australia. Here: Mars and its Rival Antares and the Rho Ophiuchi cloud complex. (Photo by Phil Hart/CWAS/The Guardian)

Ballet dancer and performer Ashlee Montague of New York wears a gas mask while she dances in Times Square as the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak continued in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., March 18, 2020. (Photo by Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

A Southwest Airlines jet takes off from Reagan National Airport with a thunderhead to the east on June 20, 2017 in Alexandria, VA. (Photo by Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post)

A visitor is dwared between the wheels of BelAZ 450-ton dump truck (L) and BelAZ 360-ton dump truck (R) at the plant of Belarusian manufacturer of heavy trucks and equipment for earthmoving, BelAZ, in Zhodino, some 55 km from Minsk, Belarus, 27 August 2019. The company mostly delivers its products to CIS mining companies, mainly from Russia and Ukraine. (Photo by Tatyana Zenkovich/EPA/EFE/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A landscape photographer has captured a stunning picture of the Isle of Wight's iconic Needles emerging from the sea mist early February 2023. Jamie Russell captured this moment on the most western part of the island. (Photo by Jamie Russell/IslandVisionss/Bournemouth News)

Volunteer of the SICS “Italian rescue dog school”, during a water rescue training session, inside the Averno lake in Pozzuoli. Italy, on October 26, 2024. (Photo by Vincenzo Izzo/Sipa USA)