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 horse is paraded during the Arabian Horse Festival at the Bait al-Arab in Kuwait City on February 5, 2022. (Photo by Yasser Al-Zayyat/AFP Photo)

People participate in the Winter Snow Sports Festival in Kalam, about 99 km from Mingora in the northern upper reaches of Swat valley on February 12, 2022. (Photo by Abdul Majeed/AFP Photo)

Jumbo-Visma team's Danish rider Jonas Vingegaard holds his daughter Frida as he celebrates on the podium with the overall leader's yellow jersey after winning the 109th edition of the Tour de France cycling race, after the 21st and final 115,6 km stage between La Defense Arena in Nanterre, outside Paris, and the Champs-Elysees in Paris, France, on July 24, 2022. (Photo by Christian Hartmann/Reuters)

Rajesh Babu, a police officer, wearing a helmet depicting coronavirus, requests a commuter to stay at home during a 21-day nationwide lockdown to limit the spreading of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Chennai, India, March 28, 2020. (Photo by P. Ravikumar/Reuters)

Law enforcement officers detain a man during a rally in support of jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Moscow, Russia on January 31, 2021. Thousands of people have taken to the streets across Russia to demand the release of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, keeping up the wave of nationwide protests that have rattled the Kremlin. Hundreds have been detained by police. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)

A Kenyan acrobatic member of the Mighty Jambo Circus Academy performs a stunt during their training routine at the academy in Nairobi, Kenya, 13 January 2021. (Photo by Daniel Irungu/EPA/EFE)

Devotees throw flower petals on an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, on the occasion of his birthday, celebrated as Magha Ganesh Jayanti, before immersing the idol into the Arabian sea, in Mumbai, India on February 16, 2021. (Photo by Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters)