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)
A surfer rides a large wave at El Bocal during the Vaca Gigante (Big Cow) giant wave surf competition in Santander, northern Spain December 17, 2016. (Photo by Vincent West/Reuters)
Brittnai of El Paso, Texas, USA, performs in the Professional Division Competition during the 5th Annual US Pole Dance Championship on April 1, 2017 at the Symphony Space Theater in New York City. (Photo by Timothy A. Clary/AFP Photo)
American model and television personality Kendall Jenner attends the Tiffany & Co. Paper Flowers event and Believe In Dreams campaign launch on May 3, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Tiffany & Co.)
A firefighter holds a red panda (Ailurus fulgens) from its tail while removing it from a tree at a residential area in Kunming, Yunnan province, July 3, 2014. The animal was spotted in the residential area and was brought down from the tree after residents reported its sighting to the police, local media reported. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)
Bonnie Morgan arrives at the LA Premiere of “Rings” at the Regal LA LIVE Stadium 14 on Thursday, February 2, 2017, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP Photo)
Dhruva Aliman does a back somersault as he dismounts from a slackline on the beach at Santa Monica, California on October 19, 2014. Slackline is a balance sport where a line of webbing is adjusted at different levels of tension between two anchor points and participants (called slackers) perform tricks and stunts including somersaults. (Photo by Mark Ralston/AFP Photo)