“I have seen batches of banknotes worth more than $2.6 million, but beyond all doubt, gold bars look much more attractive!”. – Shamil Zhumatov. Photo: Cooling-down gold ingot. March 14, 2013; Tien Shan mountains, Kyrgyzstan. (Photo by Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters)

Miss USA Alyssa Campanella arrives at the 2nd Annual American Giving Awards at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium on December 7, 2012 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Gregg DeGuire/WireImage)

Noriaki Iwashima gestures as he lies in a coffin to try it out during an end-of-life seminar held by Japan's largest retailer Aeon Co in Tokyo October 24, 2014. Funeral arrangements are normally left to those who have been left behind but the latest trend in Japan, which literally translates to “End of life” preparations, is for the ageing to prepare their own funerals and graves before they set off on their journey to the great beyond. With a population that is expected to shrink by nearly 30 million people over the next 50 years, the market for funerals, graves and anything related to the afterlife is still very much alive. (Photo by Toru Hanai/Reuters)

Members of the Guard of Honor of the Presidential Regiment from Russia perform during the “Spasskaya Tower” international military music festival at Moscow's Red Square, Russia, September 10, 2015. The festival runs until 13 Sepember. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)

“A Balinese man shows off his pride and joy, a fighting cock, while on a cigarette break after a morning’s work in nearby fields”. (Photo by Coltrane Koh/The Guardian)

A round circle of smoke coming from the mouth of the Etna volcano is seen in the sky during an eruption on the southern Italian island of Sicily April 11, 2013. Mount Etna is Europe's tallest and most active volcano. (Photo by Antonio Parrinello/Reuters)

People enjoy skating at the open air Christmas ice rink on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower after its reopening on December 19, 2016 in Paris The ice rink of about 200 square metres and on the first floor of the tower (57 metres above the ground) is open to the public until February 19, 2017. (Photo by Joel Saget/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.