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)

Hisakata Hiroyuki, a talented photographer from Japan, has managed to snap a group of mortal tomcats in a variety of high-flying kung fu poses. Using his own rapid-fire reactions, he photographs the lovable cats flying through the air, their legs and paws outstretched, like something out of an action movie. (Photo by Hisakata Hiroyuki/Caters News Agency)

The annual calendar features stunning shots of lighting, cloud formations and the aurora australis. Hundreds of photographers from every Australian state and territory submitted images to the Bureau of Meteorology for selection in the year’s calendar, with only the best chosen to represent the full spectrum of Australian weather. Here: April. A path through the clouds between Townsville and Richmond, Queensland. (Photo by Captain Victoria Harrison/Australian Bureau of Meteorology)

Canadian artist Ellen Jewett makes extremely detailed animal sculptures that combine realism with curious elements of fantasy.

Saul of the Cubacigar company repairs the largest cigar in the world at the Pipe and Tobacco museum of Sint Niklaas on November 27, 2008 in Brussels, Belgium. The cigar is 6.4 meters long, weighs 460 kilos and is made of approximately 9900 tobacco leaves. (Photo by Mark Renders/Getty Images)

An internally displaced Afghan girl plays near their shelter at a refugee camp in Kabul January 13, 2015. (Photo by Omar Sobhani/Reuters)

A saddle-billed stork stands in the grassland at the Nairobi National Park near Nairobi, Kenya January 23, 2017. (Photo by Thomas Mukoya/Reuters)

Musician “Girli” poses for a portrait during London Fashion Week in London, Britain February 21, 2017. (Photo by Neil Hall/Reuters)