M42 Subtle V1 cropped. One of the most well-known astronomical objects in our universe is the Orion Nebula and this image depicts the wider region of the Orion Molecular Cloud Complex that is its home. This complex also includes another popular target for astrophotographers, the Horsehead Nebula, as well as Barnard’s Loop and the Running Man Nebula, which can be seen to the left of this photograph. (Photo by Patrick Gilliland)

Fireworks explode over the Kremlin in Red Square which was blocked by police during New Year celebrations in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, January 1, 2017. New Year's Eve is Russia's major gift-giving holiday, and big Russian cities were awash in festive lights and decorations. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko Jr./AP Photo)

Some of the best entries so far in the 2016 Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. There are two weeks left to enter, and the winners will be announced in September. Here: Aurora over Laksvatn Fjord, Laksvatn, Norway. The aurora borealis dances in the skies over the town of Laksvatn, with the Milky Way to the left. The image is a single shot with no compositing, only post-processing to bring out the aurora, and some colour corrections. The photographer Matt Walford said: “I love the way the northern lights look like they are just wistfully dancing over the fjord, framed by the mountains on either side”. (Photo by Matt Walford/National Maritime Museum)

The 26th annual National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest is now accepting submissions. Official categories include: “Travel Portraits”, “Outdoor Scenes”, “Sense of Place” and “Spontaneous Moments”. The contest is accepting entries until June 30. Photo: “Forest lights”. Aurora Borealis over the forest of the Pyhae Luosto National Park, Finland. (Photo and caption by Nicholas Roemmelt/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

A grizzly bear fishes for salmon under the Northern Lights in Klukshu, Yukon, in the north of Canada on March 3, 2025. The bear makes use of the darkness because the salmon can't see well enough to swim away. (Photo by Peter Mather/Solent News & Photo Agency)

The supermoon rises behind Glastonbury Tor on September 27, 2015 in Glastonbury, England. Tonight's supermoon, so called because it is the closet full moon to the Earth this year, is particularly rare as it coincides with a lunar eclipse, a combination that has not happened since 1982 and won't happen again until 2033. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

An airplane crosses a nearly full-moon on its way to Los Angeles International Airport near Whittier, Calif., Thursday, December 24, 2015. Not since 1977 has a full moon dawned in the skies on Christmas. (Photo by Nick Ut/AP Photo)

The sun appears in a light bulb in Yantai, Shandong province, China, on June 17, 2024. (Photo by Costfoto/NurPhoto/Rex Features/Shutterstock)