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)

Two sheep fight in a competition in Zhangjiakou, Hebei province, China on August 1, 2017. (Photo by Reuters/China Stringer Network)

Benfica's Portuguese forward Goncalo Ramos (R) vies with Portimonense's Japonese goalkeeper Kosuke Nakamura (L) during the Portuguese League football match between SL Benfica and Portimonense SC at Luz stadium in Lisbon on January 6, 2023. (Photo by Patrícia de Melo Moreira/AFP Photo)

Despite the mild 14°С shoppers and commuters battle against the wind and rain on Waterloo Bridge, London on December 28, 2022. (Photo by Alex Lentati/London News Pictures)

A demonstration on March 15, 1922 on Palace Roof, 57th Street and 7th Avenue, showing the shellproof steel jacket. Leo Krause wearing the jacket, which weighs 12 pounds. Shots used, 38 and 45 calibre, at close range. (Photo by Bettmann Archive)

Competitors warms up ahead of taking the stage during the Arnold Classic Europe bodybuilding event in Las Rozas, Spain on October 12, 2024. (Photo by Isabel Infantes/Reuters)

Actress Kaitlyn Leeb poses in front of the “Total Recall” display as the three breasted woman in the Sony booth on Day 2 of Comic-Con International 2012 held at San Diego Convention Center on July 12, 2012 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Splash News and Pictures)

Young children at a Bristol, Great Britain health centre unsure of the benefits of sun-lamps and the special glasses that must be worn, July 1948. The health centre was part of the newly introduced free National Health Service. (Photo by Popperfoto/Getty Images)