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Over 2700 images from sixty countries were entered in this year's Astronomy Photographer of the Year, run by the Royal Museums, Greenwich. The winners will be announced on September 18 and winners and runners-up will go on display in the Royal Observatory for several months. They'll also be online.

Some of the shortlisted images have been released. This one is called Moon and Antelao. It was taken by Marcella Giulia Pace at San Vito di Cadore, Italy with the moon shining over Monte Antelao. "The photographer noted the likeness of the image to a snowball bouncing down an inclined plane." Nice one, isn't it?

This is a composite of images of the Total Solar Eclipse in the Faroe Islands in March of this year. I'm impressed that Rebecca and Remy Hoehener captured the whole thing. The Faroes were one of the few land sites where the total eclipse was visible - and it was cloudy there. I saw it from northern Norway as 90% of total. Nonetheless spectacular.

Adam Block is a very accomplished deep-sky photographer and his image of Thor's Helmet is superb. The nebula NGC 2359 got its nickname from its resemblance to the Marvel superhero's headgear. It's some 11,000 light years away in the constellation Canis Major.

Last year an aurora picture was awarded the overall prize in the competition. They can certainly take your breath away. Here are the Northern Lights above Lyngenfjord, Norway, photographed by Jan R Olsen.

Here you can find out more about Aurorae - Polar Light Shows.

Another beauty. This is Michael Jaeger's photo of Comet Lovejoy. Specifically, C/2014 Q2 Lovejoy, to give it its full name. Important, since Terry Lovejoy has discovered five comets (so far)!

If you want to know more about comets, click here.

The Sun seems so calm if we glance at in the sky. But through a filtered telescope you might see a
solar prominence. Prominences are hot loops of plasma rises from the edge of the Sun. They typically cover thousands of kilometers. This one was photographed by Gary Palmer.

These are breathtaking, Mona. The Faroe Islands one is impressive - otherworldly! Looking forward to your article on the winning images.

Lane, I'm always amazed at the transcendent beauty of many of these images. A friend has managed to get us into the press preview when they announce the winners the next week. I'm looking forward to seeing them exhibited. They'll be online, but in the exhibition they're bigger than a computer screen.

There something magical about pictures that capture star trails. They're real, yet we can't see them without a camera. This picture was taken by Dan Barr over Green Lake in California's Hoover Wilderness. The night is illuminated by stars and a campfire.

Calm before the Storm by Julie Fletcher. This is a wonderfully dramatic photo taken of a storm front over Kati-Thanda-Lake Eyre National Park in South Australia. Wow! Lightning storm under storm clouds and Milky Way.

Fantastic picture of the star trails, Mona. Enjoy the press review and tell us all about it!