A performer takes part in the opening of the Temple Fair, part of Chinese New Year celebrations at Ditan Park, also known as the Temple of Earth, in Beijing, February 18, 2015. (Photo by Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters)

Men ride on a “mikoshi” or portable shrine as local people carry it into the sea during a festival to wish peace in the ocean and good fortune in the new year in Oiso, west of Tokyo, January 1, 2015. (Photo by Yuya Shino/Reuters)

Javanese people pray before rituals night carnival “1st Suro” (Javanese calender) during Islamic New Year celebrations at Kasunanan Palace on November 14, 2012 in Solo City, Central Java, Indonesia. Javanese will celebrate the national holiday with ceremonies and rituals marking the 1434th Islamic New Year's Eve or “1st Suro”. The parade started from Keraton Kasunanan and is headed by a group of albino buffaloes, known as Kebo Bule. Local people believe that the parade of Heirlooms and Kebo Bule will bring them a better life. (Photo by Ulet Ifansasti)

Fireworks explode over Elizabeth Tower housing the Big Ben clock in London. (Photo by Kirsty Wigglesworth/Associated Press)

The Royal Observatory just announced its Astronomy Photographer Of The Year 2013 winners. Australian photographer Mark Gee was chosen among a thousand amateur and professional photographers around the globe to win the top title. His work is part of an exhibition of the winning photographers, which opened on Sept. 19 at the Royal Observatory Greenwich. The Royal Observatory shared with us the winners and notable mentions of the competition. Their descriptions of the prizewinners can be found below the images.

Children play on top of a cargo ship that was swept during the onslaught of Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban city in central Philippines November 2, 2015, ahead of the second anniversary of a devastating typhoon that killed more than 6,000 people in central Philippines. The front part of the ship was retained in the area and made into a memorial and will be inaugurated on November 8 to commemorate the second anniversary of Typhoon Haiyan. (Photo by Erik De Castro/Reuters)