Sharafkhaneh port and lake Urmia. Masoud Ghadiri (Iran). The summer Milky Way is very prominent in this photo. On the galaxy zone, Saturn is located besides the Lagoon nebula. On the right of the horizon, you can see the extreme light pollution of Urmia, which is caused by ever-increasing city development. (Photo by Masoud Ghadiri/National Maritime Museum)

A dog looks at a five-meter-long sperm whale stranded at San Bartolo beach, in Lima, on August 20, 2019. Surfers and policemen saved Tuesday an injured whale which remained stranded some hours at a beach in southern Lima, police informed. (Photo by Ernesto Benavides/AFP Photo)

Street artist Irony’s mural of a young woman on Jamaica Street in Liverpool, UK on September 22, 2019. The city has recently been transformed with bold murals painted by local artists on walls and buildings. Recognisable faces including those of the Beatles, Jürgen Klopp and Stephen Hawking. (Photo by Peter Byrne/PA Wire Press Association)

Young dancers from the Style Dance Academy perform during a Mother's Day block party in Caracas, Venezuela, Sunday, May 19, 2019. Although Mother's Day was officially celebrated the previous weekend, people in the Petare area organized the neighborhood party to celebrate the mothers of their community. (Photo by Rodrigo Abd/AP 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)

Nikolai Tolstyh takes photos of paper animal silhouettes in a natural setting. The combination is surprisingly perfect: the surroundings provide both color for the cutout and a scene to frame the animal.

Bride Duangreuthai Amnuayweroj and groom Kasemsak Jiranantiporn fly while attached to cables during a wedding ceremony ahead of Valentine's Day at a resort in Ratchaburi province, Thailand, February 13, 2016. Four Thai couples took part in the wedding ceremony arranged by the resort. (Photo by Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters)

Enjoying a tickle from her keeper, an orphaned orangutan at the SOCP Quarantine Centre in Sumatra, Indonesia on March 20, 2016. The island’s orangutan population has been devastated in recent years as the forest areas are destroyed to make way for palm oil plantations. (Photo by Jami Tarris/Barcroft Media)