In a photo taken on July 6, 2017 soldiers of the Korean People' s Army (KPA) watch a fireworks display as part of celebrations marking the July 4 launch of the Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile, in Pyongyang Fireworks lit up the sky over Pyongyang' s Juche Tower as North Korea celebrated its launch of intercontinental ballistic missile, a milestone in its decades- long weapons drive. On July 4 – the United States' Independence Day – it launched a Hwasong-14 rocket that analysts and overseas officials said had a range of up to 8,000 kilometres, which would put Alaska and Hawaii within reach. (Photo by Kim Won-Jin/AFP Photo)

Aurorae category runner-up: Lone Tree under a Scandinavian Aurora by Tom Archer (UK). The photographer decided to explore the area around the hotel on a very crisp -35C evening in Finnish Lapland. When he found this tree, he decided to wait for the misty conditions to change and could not believe his luck when the sky cleared and the aurora came out in the perfect spot. Archer spent about an hour photographing it before his camera started to lock up because of the harsh conditions, but by then he was happy to call it a night. (Photo by Tom Archer/2020 Astronomy Photographer of the Year)

Masked dancers perform a ritualistic dance at Kathmandu Durbar Square during the procession of erecting a sacred pole locally called “Ya: Shi”, marking the formal start of Indra Jatra dedicated to rain god Indra in Kathmandu, Nepal, on September 15, 2024. (Photo by Subaas Shrestha/NurPhoto/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

“These eerie formations in the sky may look like alien ships. But as the Daily Mail points out, they’re actually a natural occurrence called lenticular clouds”. – Claudine Zap. Photo: Lenticular clouds hover of the mountains of the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia. (Photos by Denis Budkov/Caters News)

A woman looks at a mural by South African artist FAITH 47 which decorates a wall in the village of Erriadh, on the Tunisian island of Djerba, on August 8, 2014, as part of the artistic project “Djerbahood”. Artists from 34 diffrents nationalities were invited by France-based Tunisian artist Mehdi Ben Cheikh to take part in an initiative to turn Djerba's Erriadh district into an “open sky museum”. (Photo by Joel Saget/AFP Photo)

“Exactly one year before the long awaited Sochi Olympics, Vladimir Putin went to Sochi personally to see how the construction is going. After receiving a report saying the ski jumps that were supposed to be ready in 2011, are not completed still, while their price has sky-rocketed from 1.2 billion to 8 billion roubles, he commented, “Good for you. Good job”, and then fired the vice president of the Olympic committee. Russian artist Vasily Slonov painted his view of the upcoming games, giving a new interpretation to the adored Russian mascot Cheburashka, and combining officially endorsed stereotypes of Russia with grimmer and less accepted ones”. – Ruskie.info. (Photo by Vasily Slonov)

Floralis Genérica is a sculpture made of steel and aluminum located in Plaza de las Naciones Unidas, Avenida Figueroa Alcorta, Buenos Aires, a gift to the city by the Argentine architect Eduardo Catalano. Catalano once said that the flower "is a synthesis of all the flowers and is both a hope that is reborn every day to open." It was created in 2002. The sculpture moves closing its petals in the evening and opening them in the morning, although this mechanism is currently disabled. The sculpture is located in the center of a park of four acres of wooded boundaries, surrounded by paths that get closer and provide different perspectives of the monument, and placed above a reflecting pool, which apart from fulfilling its aesthetic function, protects it. It represents a large flower made of stainless steel with aluminum skeleton and reinforced concrete, which looks at the sky, extending to it its six petals. Weighs eighteen tons and is 23 meters high.

This might quite simply be the oddest skydive youll ever see – as a pair of daredevils simulate a rodeo ride as they hurtle towards earth. In the bizarre pictures, skydiver Robyn Young managed to straddle co-jumper Oliver Miller, as they plummet through the sky – and amazingly, pal Jeff Donohue caught it all on camera. The pair managed to perform the stunt before going their separate ways and pulling their parachute cords during the skydive over recibo, Puerto Rico, last month. Here: Robyn Young surfs on the back of Oliver Miller as they descend upon Arecibo, Puerto Rico. (Photo by Jeff Donohue/Caters News)