In this Wednesday, January 7, 2015 photo, a Sri Lankan Catholic devotee Rita Anthony kisses her rosary as she prays inside her house in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The Vatican has said that it hopes that Sri Lanka's Christians can play a role in helping heal the wounds of the island nation's bloody 25-year civil war, when the Tamil Tiger rebels fought to create a separate homeland in the north for the minority Tamils, who are mostly Hindu. The war came to a bloody end in 2009, but many Tamils say they feel forgotten by the central government, which is dominated by the country's ethnic Sinhala majority, which is overwhelmingly Buddhist. Sri Lanka's Christians come from both the Tamil and the Sinhala communities, making them a natural bridge between the two sides. (Photo by Eranga Jayawardena/AP Photo)

“Shortly after he arrived, Van Agtmael witnessed the aftermath of this suicide bombing at a cafe that soldiers frequented in Mosul. Nine people died and 23 were wounded”. (Photo and caption by Van Agtmael/Harrison Jacobs/Magnum Photos)

These Arab recruits line up in a barracks square in the British Mandate of Palestine, on December 28, 1940, for their first drill under a British solider. Some 6,000 Palestinian Arabs signed up with the British Army during the course of World War II. (AP Photo)

The Royal Observatory just announced its Astronomy Photographer Of The Year 2013 winners. Australian photographer Mark Gee was chosen among a thousand amateur and professional photographers around the globe to win the top title. His work is part of an exhibition of the winning photographers, which opened on Sept. 19 at the Royal Observatory Greenwich. The Royal Observatory shared with us the winners and notable mentions of the competition. Their descriptions of the prizewinners can be found below the images.

Flowers are placed on actress Elizabeth Taylor's Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on March 23, 2011 in Hollywood, California. The Academy Award winning actress died Wednesday at age 79. (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images)

George R.R. Martin, Lena Headey, Sophie Turner, and other cast and crew of Game of Thrones have faced the winds of winter – or anyway, a bucket of ice water – with the popular charity challenge. HBO’s Game of Thrones gives fans chills in every episode. But as the Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS research has exploded across the internet, the cast and crew of the shocking show gave themselves goosebumps as they stepped up to get soaked.

A man dressed as a “Trapajon”, representing entities of nature, poses for a picture after taking part in the Vijanera Festival in Silio, northern Spain, Sunday, Jan. 6, 2013. The Vijanera masquerade, of pre-Roman origin, is the first carnival of the year in Europe symbolizing the triumph of good over evil and involving the participation of crowds of residents wearing different masks, animal skins and brightly colored clothing with its own complex function and symbolism and becoming the living example of the survival of archaic cults to nature. (Photo by Daniel Ochoa de Olza/AP Photo)

A Sponge Bob Square Pants character is helped up a flight of stairs during the 2013 London Toy Fair at Olympia Exhibition Centre on January 22, 2013 in London, England. The annual fair which is organised by the British Toy and Hobby Association, brings together toy manufacturers and retailers from around the world. (Photo by Dan Kitwood)