The US Capitol dome with flags flying at half-staff in honor of former President Jimmy Carter, Washington, DC (© J. David Ake/Getty Images)

Snow on the Great Wall of China (© View Stock/Alamy)

Moeraki Boulders at sunset, South Island, New Zealand (© Douglas Pearson/eStock Photo)

Flooded crypt, Basilica of San Francesco, Ravenna, Italy (© Andrea Pucci/Getty Images)

Plum-headed parakeet at Shimoga, Karnataka, India (© Hira Punjabi/Alamy)

Bản Giốc–Detian Falls on the Quây Sơn River, Vietnam (© Shane P. White/Minden Pictures)

The Radcliffe Camera and All Souls College, University of Oxford, England (© atiger/Shutterstock)

Star trails over Ardez, Graubunden, Switzerland (© Roberto Moiola/Getty Images)

Polar bears at play in the Arctic (© Ondrej Prosicky/Shutterstock)

New Year’s Eve fireworks over Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (© Wagner Meier/Getty Images)