22 of the most incredible astronomy photos taken this year

There’s something enchanting about the night sky.

How, when you’re outside of London and away from the smog and bright lights, the stars are scattered like glow worms in the darkness.

Luckily, there are a number of excellent photographers around the globe who can capture the magic of space in a single image.

A total of 4,200 entries from photographers from 91 countries have been submitted into this year’s awards for the Royal Observatory’s Insight Investment Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2018.

Of the thousands of images, these have been whittled down to a shortlist of truly spectacular images.

The winner of each of the nine categories – including Galaxies, the moon, the sun and aurorae - along with the overall winner will be announced on October 23 at an awards ceremony held at the National Maritime Museum.

From the mesmerising Great Orion to the dancing Aurora Borealis, scroll through a selection of the shortlisted images above.