Each year, the UK's Royal Observatory in Greenwich runs an Astronomy Photographer of the Year contest. Yesterday, the Observatory announced the winners of its 2013 version, the winners of which will be on display, making it worth a visit if you're anywhere near London. We've brought you some of the winners of microscopy contests in the past; this gives us the chance to feature things at the opposite end of the scale, from planets to galaxies.

Just like the microscopy images, all of them can tell us something about the natural world. Details of images can reveal information about topics that run from orbital mechanics to the behavior of supernovae. But they're a great reminder that something can be both informative and stunningly beautiful. For many people, it was the beauty of the natural world that first inspired them to ask questions about it and set them off on the road that led to a career in science.

Entries are being accepted for the 2014 contest up until late February this year, so if you've got a scope and something compelling, get to work!