Charlie Summers / The transit of Venus across the face of the sun, with visible sunspots, as seen from Aurora, Colorado, USA, 19.51 local time, 5 June 2012.

Andy Sands / Glow Worm (Lampyris noctiluca) female glowing after dark. Hertfordshire, England, UK, July.

Andy Sands / Glow Worm (Lampyris noctiluca) female glowing after dark. Hertfordshire, England, Uk, July.

Roy Mangersnes / Aurora Borealis above the Arctic Ocean off the northen coast of Finnmark, Norway, April

Doug Perrine / Flower Hat Jelly / Jellyfish (Olindias formosa), a rare hydromedusa with fluorescent tentacle tips. Endemic to Brazil, Argentina, and southern Japan.

Sven Zacek / Geese on their spring migration above dawn lit clouds. Estonia, Europe, May.

Ole Jorgen Liodden / Thunderstorm and bushfire at night. Kalahari, Botswana, November.

Loic Poidevin / Eruption and molten lava flowing down the sides of the Erta ale volcano (the smoking mountain) in the Afar desert, Northern Ethiopia, February 2009

Doug Perrine / Swarm / aggregation of venomous Moon jellyfish (Aurelia aurita) Port Fidalgo, Prince William Sound, USA, July

Jeff Wilson / Sun Dog, or Parhelion, caused by refraction of the sun's rays, more commonly seen in Antarctica, above glacier, Dry Valleys, Antarctica, December 2009. Taken on location for the BBC series, Frozen Pla...

Erlend Haarberg / Sunlit ridges against volcanic scree beneath a low cloud. Eyjafjallajokull, Iceland, April 2010. Highly commended in Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2011 competition, Wild Places category.

Sue Daly / A shoal of Sand Eels (Ammodytes tobianus) against surface light. Channel Islands, UK, August.