Most people know Nikon as a purveyor of pro and consumer-grade digital cameras. But the company's expertise with optics bleeds over into related markets – it's one of the science community's major suppliers of microscopes. And each year the company asks the community to send it some of their favorite images of tiny objects. A panel of scientists and journalists have chosen the best of this past year's submissions, which Nikon has placed on its Small World site.

Photo: Honorable Mention. “Snow crystal, illuminated with colored lights (5x)”. (Photo by Dr. Kenneth Libbrecht, California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Department of Physics, Pasadena, California, USA)

Women are reflected on silver panels of the French luxury brand Louis Vuitton flagship store at the Central Business District in Beijing, Wednesday, March 6, 2019. China will bar government authorities from demanding overseas companies hand over technology secrets in exchange for market share, a top economic official said Wednesday, addressing a key complaint at the heart of the current China-U.S. trade dispute. (Photo by Andy Wong/AP Photo)

Mackenzie Brown from the USA warms up on stage prior the final ofthe 47th Prix de Lausanne in Lausanne, Switzerland, 09 February 2019. Launched in 1973, the Prix de Lausanne is an international dance competition for young dancers. The best dancers will be awarded with scholarships granting free tuition in a world-renowned dance school or dance company. (Photo by Valentin Flauraud/EPA/EFE)

Hideki Tokoro, president of whaling company Kyodo Senpaku, boards Japan's new whaling mothership, the Kangei Maru, following the ship's launch ceremony at a port in Shimonoseki city, Yamaguchi prefecture on May 21, 2024. The nearly 9,300-tonne ship set sail on its maiden hunting voyage on May 21, heralding a new era for the controversial practice defended by the government as an integral part of national culture. (Photo by Yuichi Yamazaki/AFP Photo)

American model Kaia Gerber (L) and American actress Kate Hudson attend the “Shell” After Party during the Toronto International Film Festival at Elevation Pictures on September 13, 2024. In this dark comedy and body horror about society's obsession with youth and good looks, an actress (Elisabeth Moss) challenges a beauty firm CEO (Kate Hudson) over her company's questionable science. (Photo by ZUMAPRESS.com/The Mega Agency)

China's independently developed Zhuque-3 reusable test rocket conducts a flight test at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on September 11, 2024 in Jiuquan, Gansu Province of China. China's private space company LandSpace successfully conducted a 10-kilometer vertical takeoff and vertical landing (VTVL) test on September 11. (Photo by Ni Yanqiang, Zeng Yangxi/Zhejiang Daily Press Group/VCG via Getty Images)

Workers demonstrate outside the factory of Hua Yang Printing Holdings Co Ltd on October 30, 2007 in Shenzhen of Guangdong Province, China. Over 1,000 workers of the company have blocked the 107 State Highway where the firm is located, to protest against their employer, who owed half a month's salary to the workers. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

These horses are pictured in the Khentii province in eastern Mongolia during the Winter Horse Festival – where skillful horsemen gather to challenge the strength of their horses and show off their riding skills. Pictures were taken by Batzaya Choijiljav, a travel company director from Mongolia. Here: The fur of a horse ices up in the –40 cold of Mongolia. (Photo by Batzaya Choijiljav/Caters News)