An elderly woman sits next to shanties as a Philippine Airlines (PAL) plane flies over a slum area in Paranaque city, Metro Manila, Philippines, 06 March 2025. According to the latest report of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), poverty rate dropped to 15.5 percent in 2024 from 18.1 percent in 2021, with 17.54 million people living below the poverty line, a decrease of 2.4 million from the previous survey two years earlier. (Photo by Francis R. Malasig/EPA)

Fishermen carry a tuna fish to the market in Mogadishu, Somalia, April 2, 2025. (Photo by Farah Abdi Warsameh/AP Photo)

A woman carries a heavy load on her head while walking along the narrow Kilo ZeroKilo 30 road near Bentiu in Unity State, South Sudan, on November 6, 2025. The eroded and flood-affected road compels residents to travel long distances on foot to access supplies in Bentiu and Rubkona. (Photo by Rian Cope/AFP Photo)

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.

Khadjou Sambe, 25, surfs off the coast of Ngor, Dakar, Senegal, August 18, 2020. Growing up in the coastal capital of Dakar, Sambe never saw a Black woman surfing the Atlantic swells. As Senegal's first female professional surfer, Sambe is now inspiring the next generation to defy cultural norms and take to the waves as a surfing coach for local girls. “When I am in the water I feel something extraordinary, something special in my heart”, Sambe said. (Photo by Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)

People gather in the street the night before a local lockdown amidst the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Manchester, Britain on October 22, 2020. (Photo by Molly Darlington/Reuters)

A Hindu devotee drinks water from the Ganges River at the Sangam area, the confluence of rivers Ganges, Yamuna, and the mythical Saraswati, in Allahabad on March 16, 2021. (Photo by Sanjay Kanojia/AFP Photo)

Sikh Nihang's Singh (Sikh warriors) walk along the empty Heritage Street after strict lockdown norms for weekends and public holidays were imposed as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus, in Amritsar on June 13, 2020. (Photo by Narinder Nanu/AFP Photo)