A pack of wild smooth-coated otters, nicknamed the “Zouk family”, crosses Penang Road in Singapore on March 3, 2021, the World Wildlife Day. The “Zouks”, a well-known otter family in Singapore, started out from the Istana on Wednesday, and made a “royal” tour of various landmarks in Singapore. (Photo by Chine Nouvelle/SIPA Press/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

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)

2016 Rio Olympics, Weightlifting, Final, Women's 69kg, Riocentro, Pavilion 2, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on August 10, 2016. Leidy Solis (COL) of Colombia competes. (Photo by Stoyan Nenov/Reuters)

This photo taken on March 29, 2017 shows a young woman offering shots of liquer at a dance bar in Walking Street in Pattaya. Two hours east of Bangkok, Pattaya' s bawdy reputation hails from the Vietnam War era when US GIs partied in their downtime. (Photo by Roberto Schmidt/AFP Photo)

Beesan al-Jubeh, (L), Palestinian under-10 national karate champion, trains with her father Sami (R) and other family members, all wearing face masks and gloves due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, outside their house in the city of Hebron in the Occupied West Bank on April 9, 2020. (Photo by Hazem Bader/AFP Photo)

This screengrab from Thai TV Pool video taken on May 1, 2019 shows a ceremony in which Thailand's King Maha Vajiralongkorn “legally married” Suthida Vajiralongkorn na Ayudhya in Bangkok. Thailand announced on May 1, 2019 that King Maha Vajiralongkorn's long-time consort had become his fourth wife, bestowed with the title Queen Suthida – a surprise move just days before his coronation. (Photo by Bureau of the Royal Household via Reuters)

Model Elise Daniels dons a Balenciaga suit while surrounded by street performers in Paris, France in 1948. (Photo by Richard Avedon/Victoria and Albert Museum London/The Guardian)

Military officers look at an AR-10 sniper rifle at LAAD, the biggest military industry expo in Latin America in Sao Paulo, Brazil April 10, 2018. (Photo by Nacho Doce/Reuters)