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 boy and a serviceman pose for a picture during Marines Day celebration in the Black Sea port of Sevastopol, Crimea, November 27, 2016. (Photo by Pavel Rebrov/Reuters)

A young woman takes pictures of the city with her mobile phone, from the glass-floor observation platform, in the Oriental Pearl Tower, in the financial district of Shanghai, on May 9, 2019. (Photo by Hector Retamal/AFP Photo)

Christmas party goers seen on December 14, 2018 in Liverpool, United Kingdom. Revellers hit the bars as they partied hard on the second-to-last Friday before Christmas. (Photo by Mercury Press)

Yippie leader Jerry Rubin, barred on December 4, from House Un-American Activities subcommittee hearing, aims a toy gun in “self defense” outside the Washington hearing room on December 5, 1969. Rubin showed up in his Santa Clause suit because he believed it was typical of the committee which, he said, “is a total circus”. (Photo by Bob Daugherty/AP Photo)

Joseph Fons holding a Pride Flag, runs in front of the U.S. Supreme Court building after the court ruled that a federal law banning workplace discrimination also covers sexual orientation, in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 15, 2020. (Photo by Tom Brenner/Reuters)

A Hawaiian cleaner wrasse provides its cleaning services to a yellowfin goatfish in a reef community off the Big Island in Hawaii. Cleaner species help rid their hosts of ectoparasites, dead tissue, bacteria and fungi. Studies have shown cleaning to play a vital role in keeping many reef ecosystems healthy. (Photo by Marty Snyderman/Caters News Agency)

Volodymyr, a service member of the Ukrainian armed forces, plays with puppies at fighting positions on the line of separation from pro-Russian rebels in Donetsk region, Ukraine on April 10, 2021. The two unnamed puppies living on frontline positions will be taken home and named by soldiers departing on troops rotation. (Photo by Oleksandr Klymenko/Reuters)