Jan Agha, 49, an Afghan hunter, tries to catch his crane at a field in Bagram, Parwan province, Afghanistan on April 10, 2019. As the early morning light breaks over the plain north of Kabul, bird hunter Jan Agha checks his snares as he has done for the past 30 years, hoping to catch a crane, using a tethered bird to lure others down to the nets. (Photo by Mohammad Ismail/Reuters)

A general view shows sculptures made of waste material titled “Trash People” by German Artist HA Schult (unseen), on April 2, 2014 in Ariel Sharon Park, in the suburbs of Tel Aviv. Hundreds of human-size figures constructed from 20 tons of recycled material, including iron, glass, computer parts, cans and more, will dominate the sky line of Tel-Aviv city and be placed in the park. (Photo by Jack Guez/AFP Photo)

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)

Mananya Boonmee, 49, works on the make-up of a “child angel” doll at her house in Nonthaburi, Thailand, January 26, 2016. A craze for lifelike dolls thought to bring good luck is sweeping Thailand, reflecting widespread anxiety as the economy struggles and political uncertainty persists nearly two years after a coup. (Photo by Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters)

A mahout watches the Thai animation movie Kan Kluay with his elephant in Ayuthaya province, about 80km (49 miles) north of Bangkok June 5, 2006. The movie tells the story of a young Thai wild elephant who, while looking for his father, becomes the war elephant of the Thai King fighting against Burma and restored Thailand's ancient Ayuthaya empire that existed about 400 years ago. (Photo by Sukree Sukplang/Reuters)

Japanese embroidery artist Hiroko Kubota was in the process of making custom sized clothes for her smaller-framed son when he made a small request: could some of the shirts have cats on them? Kubota explains her son was somewhat obsessed with cats and had collected a small library of adorable images found around the web.

A Belarussian woman looks in the mirror as she takes part in the festival of national traditions “Piatrovski” in the village of Shipilovichi, south of Minsk, July 12, 2015. (Photo by Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters)

Riot police face off with demonstrators at the “Occupy Denver” camp on October 29, 2011 in Denver, Colorado. Following a march by protesters, police moved in on their encampment to tear down recently erected tents. They arrested numerous protesters, pepper-sprayed others and others reportedly fired rubber bullets at the crowd during the confrontation. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)