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)

A Tamil devotee prays during the Thai Pongal harvest festival at a temple in Colombo January 15, 2016.The Tamil festival of Thai Pongal is a thanksgiving ceremony in which the farmers thank the spirits of nature, the sun and the farm animals for their assistance in providing a successful harvest. (Photo by Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters)

Ratana Das, 40, a female vendor, carries sacks full of clothes at a second-hand clothing market early morning in Kolkata, India, March 10, 2016. Das said she was born and brought up in Kolkata and feels proud being a resident of the city that gives her he opportunity to be financially independent. (Photo by Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters)

Cemetery workers repaint tombs inside the municipal cemetery in Navotas city, north of Manila October 29, 2015. Filipinos are preparing to celebrate All Saints Day on November 1 by visiting the graves of their departed loved ones. (Photo by Ezra Acayan/Reuters)

In this photo taken late Thursday, May 7, 2015, a prison guard, left, and seated inmates cast shadows on a wall while waiting for the beginning of a rock concert by Romanian band Pro Musica, inside the Popa Sapca jail in Timisoara, western Romania. (Photo by Adi Piclisan/AP Photo)

Labourers work at the installation site of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) pipeline on May Day or Labour Day in Chandigarh, India, May 1, 2015. (Photo by Ajay Verma/Reuters)

CANADA: Stanley Ferdinand filets large trout he caught in Great Bear Lake in Deline, Northwest Territories, Canada September 8, 2016. (Photo by Pat Kane/Reuters)

In this January 23, 2021, file photo, a police officer detains a young woman during a protest against the jailing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Pushkin square in Moscow, Russia. Allies of Navalny are calling for new protests next weekend to demand his release, following a wave of demonstrations across the country that brought out tens of thousands in a defiant challenge to President Vladimir Putin. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP Photo/File)