An Italian photographer travelled to Chile where he visited several star-gazing sites, home to some of the world's most advanced telescopes, located in the spectacular setting of the Atacama desert. Surrounded by vast desert and distant snow topped mountains, the enormous satellite dishes, dome-shaped buildings and telescopes are run by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) , an intergovernmental body dedicated to observing space. Photographer Alberto Ghizzi Panizza was granted access to several observatory sites.
HUDDLING under a leaf, a pair of adorable Javan scops owls take shelter from the rain .
EXPERTLY camouflaged, this clever panther chameleon knows how to catch its prey by surprise .
SITTING on a burning sofa unable to move, one man turns his terrifying dreams into reality .
NEW DELHI, A woman activist of India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party crosses a police barricade near the residence of ruling Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi during a protest against the recent rape of a five-year-old girl in New Delhi, India, April 21, 2013 .
FLOATING effortlessly on his back, this little otter laps up a rare glimmer of English spring sunshine .
WITH his spiked ears and yellow and blue body, a colourful monkey bears an uncanny resemblance to Marvel Comics’ Wolverine .
SWIMMING slowly towards the shore, a small group of bottlenose dolphins arrive for breakfast at a beach in Western Australia .
It’s a role reversal in the Visayan Sea as HUNDREDS of tiny, glistening eggs are carried around inside the mouth of their cardinalfish father .
ROLLING around in the snow, these young brown bears take a break from their play fight to share a tender hug with one another .
A baby sperm whale assumed the role of a friendly giant when faced with two awestruck divers .
This brave Hyena finally catches his pray among the thousands of flamingos, Lake Nakuru, Kenya - OUTNUMBERED among thousands of flamingos, this bold hyena is not put off from hunting for a morning snack .
A Romanian photographer has captured the unique patterns of hundreds of human eyes in a series of striking macro shots .