Ohio State drum major performs during the NCAA football game between the Ohio State Buckeyes and Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Ohio Stadium in Columbus on September 3, 2022. (Photo by Adam Cairns/USA TODAY Sports)

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)

A partial Solar eclipse is seen just after sunrise over the Queens borough of New York across the East River on November 3, 2013 in New York. (Photo by Stan Honda/AFP Photo)

American reality show contestant Courtney Stodden is caught kissing a mystery woman on the beach in Santa Monica, CA on September 16, 2016. Courtney and the mystery brunette couldn't keep their hands of each other and didn't seem to care who saw their antics as they frolicked on the sand. (Photo by Canham/Splash News)

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.

Students perform a traditional dance during the Onam festival celebrations in Chennai on August 25, 2023. (Photo by R. Satish Babu/AFP Photo)

A person dressed as the Statue of Liberty pays for a hot dog on a side street near the 51st Annual Village Halloween Parade in New York, New York, USA, 31 October 2024. The annual holiday parade passes through the city's Greenwich Village neighborhood and claims to be the largest Halloween parade in the world. (Photo by Justin Lane/EPA/EFE)

Artist Le Pustra and organiser Else Edelstahl pose for a picture at Simon Dach Strasse, a street filled with many bars, in Berlin, Germany, August 28, 2016. Else Edelstahl organises the party series “Boheme Sauvage”, in which people dress up in 1920s style, celebrating Berlin nightlife of a past era. (Photo by Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters)