Aurorae category runner-up: Lone Tree under a Scandinavian Aurora by Tom Archer (UK). The photographer decided to explore the area around the hotel on a very crisp -35C evening in Finnish Lapland. When he found this tree, he decided to wait for the misty conditions to change and could not believe his luck when the sky cleared and the aurora came out in the perfect spot. Archer spent about an hour photographing it before his camera started to lock up because of the harsh conditions, but by then he was happy to call it a night. (Photo by Tom Archer/2020 Astronomy Photographer of the Year)

Performers from the Joles ethnic group in Gambia prepare to perform with sharp blades which they say will demonstrate the magic powers of a spiritual water, that will make them immune to the cuts, during a campaign rally by incumbent President Yahya Jammeh, leader of the APRC (The Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction) in Bikama on November 24, 2016. As electoral favorite Jammeh seeks his fifth term in power, a two-week campaign period will come to an end next week ahead of the December 1st presidential election with political leaders canvassing in rural areas. (Photo by Marco Longari/AFP Photo)

“Sniff out the Appenzell Cheese”. Alexander Hunter, 30, of Greenwich, Conn., took this photo in Appenzell, Switzerland, in September 2014. (Photo by Alexander Hunter)

These images show off some of the world's most majestic creatures silhouetted against the beautiful rising and setting sun. The vibrant pictures feature a variety of animals in the wild and were taken by a host of photographers at locations around the world. The striking images all have one thing in common: the photographers' awe-inspiring ability to perfectly capture the silhouettes of earth's beautiful creatures. Here: a blue wildebeest moves through grassland at dawn with the sun in the background in Mara Naboisho Conservancy, Kenya, Africa. (Photo by Renato Granieri/Caters News/Ardea)

In this March 3, 2015 photo, a group of California sea lions rest on a large bouy in the San Ignacio lagoon, in the Pacific Ocean, near Guerrero Negro, in Mexico's Baja California peninsula. (Photo by Dario Lopez-Mills/AP Photo)

Dancers Marion Krebs and Judy Ness, right, pose as batter and catcher in front of the Chicago White Sox dugout before start of game with Detroit at Comiskey Park, Chicago, Ill., September 18, 1959. White Sox won, 1-0, to move within two games of clinching the American League pennant. (Photo by AP Photo)

Women walk past a mannequin with a covered face as they shop ahead of the Muslim festival of Eid-al-Adha in Aleppo, Syria September 23, 2015. (Photo by Hamid Khatib/Reuters)