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)

Boeing B-29 (#10) from the 24th Bomb Squadron, 6th Bomb Group after an emergency landing at Iwo Jima on April 24,1945. (Photo by U.S. Air Force)

Festival volunteer Aisling Wilson jumps into the Jump Trump art installation created by artists Erik Kessels and Thomas Mailaender, which is on display at the Golden Thread Gallery in Belfast as part of the 2019 Belfast Photo Festival on June 6, 2019. The exhibition includes the Jump Trump installation on display for the first time in the UK and Ireland. (Photo by Justin Kernoghan/PA Images via Getty Images)

More than 700 underwater images were submitted for the 2012 Annual Underwater Photography Contest, hosted by the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science. This year, for the first time, the University of Miami set up a “Fan Favorite” category for its underwater photo competition. Internet users could vote for their favorite among five pictures. Todd Aki's photo of a jellyfish took the prize, snaring 599 of the 1,221 votes cast. (Photo by Todd Aki)

Hidden Britain category winner. Garden Spider by Alan Smith from Reading, Berkshire. (Photo by Alan Smith/British Wildlife Photography Awards/PA Wire Press Association)

Alexander Nerozya and Ilya Mihaylov make the dream of many “Street Fighter” fans come true and bring the characters of the classic video game into reality. Specifically for this purpose they found a few body-builders to express the epic struggle between Ken and Ryu and other famous characters including beautiful Chun Li. While Nerozya took care of the raw image Mihaylov used his post-production skills to portray finishing touches.

Dana Friedman, a trial lawyer who has spent 6 months of each year growing out his beard for his annual appearance as Santa Claus since 2001, greets children outside wearing masks as a precautionary measure at the Bay Terrace Shopping Center in Queens as the global outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in New York City, U.S., December 6, 2020. (Photo by Caitlin Ochs/Reuters)

A nesting bird peeks out of the budding Japanese Yoshino cherry tree along the Tidal Basin in Washington, Sunday, April 7, 2013. Despite repeated predictions peak blossom time for the historic cherry trees is not yet here, but almost, almost. (Photo by Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo)