The competition, which is run by the Royal Observatory Greenwich in association with BBC Sky at Night Magazine, is now in its sixth year and has received over 2,500 entries. Photo: Centre of the Heart Nebula by Ivan Eder (Hungary). Situated 7500 light years away in the “W”-shaped constellation of Cassiopeia, the Heart Nebula is a vast region of glowing gas, energized by a cluster of young stars at its centre. The image depicts the central region, where dust clouds are being eroded and moulded into rugged shapes by the searing cosmic radiation. (Photo by Ivan Eder)

Coloured X-ray of a barn owl. A physicist has used X-ray to create an extraordinary collection of artwork. Arie van't Riets pictures reveal birds, fish, monkeys and flowers in an incredible new light. The 66-year-old, from Bathmen in the Netherlands, began X-raying flowers as a means to teach radiographers and physicians how the machine worked. But after adding a bit of colour to the pictures, the retired medical physicist realised the potential for an exciting new collection of art. (Photo by Arie van't Riet/Barcroft Media)

An image produced by the Hubble telescope of the perfectly “edge-on” galaxy, or NGC 4013, March 1, 2001. This new Hubble picture reveals, with great detail, huge clouds of dust and gas extending along, as well as far above, the galaxy's main disk. NGC 4013 is a spiral galaxy, similar to the Milky Way, lying some 55 million light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Ursa Major. Viewed face-on, it would look like a nearly circular pinwheel, but NGC 4013 happens to be seen edge-on from our vantage point. Even at 55 million light-years, the galaxy is larger than Hubble's field of view, and the image shows only a little more than half of the object, albeit with unprecedented detail. (Photo Courtesy of NASA/Newsmakers)

A farmer and his cow “Cilly” wait for results of the “Milchgipfel” (lit. Milk summit) which takes place at the German Ministry of Food and Agriculture in Berlin, Germany on May 30, 2016. Minister of Food and Agriculture Christian Schmidt met with representatives of agriculture and dairy farming to evaluate measures to help dairy farmers in light of plummeting milk prices. (Photo by Maurizio Gambarni/EPA)

People watch as workers inflate a near-10 metre high giant spider by Singaporean artist Jackson Tan in Singapore's Marina Bay financial district on February 6, 2017. The spider is one of several inflatable creatures that will form the Art-Zoo, a section created by Singaporean artist Jackson Tan for the iLight Marina Bay annual light-art festival in the city-state. (Photo by Roslan Rahman/AFP Photo)

Reflected in the rearview mirror, Jose Collantes gets a hug from daughter Kehity while they're stopped at a red light, as Jose drives his five-year-old home from a playdate in Santiago, Chile, Sunday, September 6, 2020, three months after they lost his wife, her mother, to COVID-19. Their case highlights how COVID-19 deaths the world over are often the beginning of a new personal journey for those affected. (Photo by Esteban Felix/AP Photo)

A dog is worshiped during Tihar or Diwali festival in Kathmandu, Nepal on November 12, 2023. Nepali people worship dogs, dedicated solely to the human's most devoted friend and guardian on second day of Tihar fesival. “Tihar” the Hindu festival of flowers and lights, is celebrated for five days. (Photo by Sunil Sharma/ZUMA Press Wire/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Mariam Ashraf, a teacher and “natural hair influencer”, speaks before a phone on a tripod and lights during a live-stream at her home in Egypt's capital Cairo on March 22, 2022. “Shaggy”, “messy”, “unprofessional”. Natural curls were once looked down upon in Egypt, where Western beauty standards favoured sleek, straight locks. Now, things are changing. (Photo by Khaled Desouki/AFP Photo)