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 devotee takes a holy bath in River Saali in Sankhu during the Swasthani Brata Katha festival in Kathmandu, Nepal, January 24, 2016. During the month long festival, devotees recite one chapter of a Hindu tale daily from the 31-chapter sacred Swasthani Brata Katha book that is dedicated to God Madhavnarayan and Goddess Swasthani, alongside various other gods and goddess and the miraculous feats performed by them. The devotees also go on pilgrimages to various temples, perform religious rituals, take a holy bath in the rivers and fast for a month, especially among women who believe fasting helps in their family's well-being or in getting them a good husband. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)

“Centuries ago, Inuit hunted the bowhead whale. At that time, whale hunting undoubtedly was part of a complex and very important ritual, if only because of the size of the catch. The position that the ancestors of today's Inuit occupied in the living world involved a relationship with the spirit that inhabited each animal but also their species”. (Photo by Robert Frechette/2014 Sony World Photography Awards)

Breitling Wingwalkers aircrafts perform during an aerobatic display at an air show in Zhengzhou, Henan province, China, September 25, 201. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

A Palestinian girl wearing a protective face mask looks on as she sits in a box on the back of a bicycle amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis, in Gaza City on September 27, 2020. (Photo by Mohammed Salem/Reuters)

Russian policemen detain participants of an unauthorized “Russian March 2020: For freedom and justice! We go out to say that Russian lives matter” organised by Russian nationalists on the National Unity Day in Moscow, Russia, 04 November 2020. Russian nationalists demand freedom for political prisoners in prisons and a fair investigation into the deaths of political prisoners, including representatives of radical movements who were killed during detention or found dead in places of detention. (Photo by Sergei Ilnitsky/EPA/EFE)

Iranian girls wearing face masks walk in Tehran, Iran, 02 November 2020. According to the Iranian Health ministry, Iran reported its highest daily COVID-19 death toll and infections by announcing 440 deaths and 8,289 new infections in past 24 hours in what appears to be a third wave of COVID-19 outbreak. (Photo by Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA/EFE)

Motorcycle enthusiast Gilbert Delos Reyes rides with his pet dog Bogie, in Kawit, Cavite, Philippines, November 26, 2020. (Photo by Eloisa Lopez/Reuters)