Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station experiences months of darkness. The sun dips below the horizon on March 21, after which follows several weeks of twilight before complete darkness results. Photo taken on June 25, 2009. (National Science Foundation/Jeremy Johnson)

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)

Visitors look at photographs in the exhibition “Lisette Model Street Life e Horst P. Horst Syle and Glamour” at the art gallery “Camera – Centro Italiano per la fotografia” in Turin, Italy, 27 April 2021. Culture venues reopened to the public as several Italian region are back to COVID-19 yellow zone in the country's tier system. (Photo by Alessandro di Marco/EPA/EFE)

Believers bathe in the icy water during a traditional Epiphany at the Church of the Holy Trinity in Ostankino near TV Tower in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, January 18, 2023. Across Russia, the devout and the daring are observing the Orthodox Christian feast day of Epiphany by immersing themselves in frigid water through holes cut through the ice of lakes and rivers. Epiphany celebrates the revelation of Jesus Christ as the incarnation of God through his baptism in the River Jordan. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP Photo)

Participants jump into the water during the 114th edition of the Copa Nadal (Christmas Cup) swimming race in Barcelona's Port Vell on December 25, 2023. The traditional 200-meter Christmas swimming race gathered around 300 participants on Barcelona's Port Vell (old harbour). (Photo by Josep Lago/AFP Photo)

A woman writes a get well message to former President Donald Trump during a prayer vigil hosted by Turning Point Action near the venue for the Republican National Convention (RNC), at Zeidler Union Square in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on July 14, 2024. (Photo by Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

Dinosaur costumed actors representing Thailand's establishment at a high school student led protest in Bangkok, Thailand on November 21, 2020. (Photo by Matthew Tostevin/Reuters)

Ants carry a leaf with a slogan reading “Merkel, Help!”, a reference of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, at the zoo in Cologne, Germany August 18, 2015. Some of the zoo's 500,000 leaf-cutting ants carry laser-cut leaves with slogans during a campaign to protect the Amazon rain forest, organised by the German branch of World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF) and Cologne Zoo. Picture taken through the glass of the display case. (Photo by Ina Fassbender/Reuters)