The best microscope photos of the year reveal a strange and hidden universe in astonishing detail

Human eyes may be remarkable tools to view the universe, but they also restrict our perception of reality to a limited, macroscopic slice.

Fortunately, microscopes grant us access to a fantastic, beautiful, and sometimes shocking universe that hides beyond the limits of vision.

To honor the mastery required to capture the microscopic world and appreciate its wonders, the Nikon Small World contest picks the best photographs taken through a microscope, and has done so each year for decades .

"Our goal has always been to show the world how art and science intersect," Eric Flem, Nikon Instruments' communications manager, said in a press release. "As new imaging and microscopy techniques develop over the years, our winners showcase these technology advances more and more creatively."

For the 45th year of the contest, four judges reviewed more than 2,000 pictures submitted from nearly 100 different countries. A little more than 100 photos stood out from the pack.

We've posted the top 20 winners below including images of a fluorescent turtle embryo, a close-up of a housefly's compound eye, and a psychedelic cross-section of a tulip flower bud (above) along with 20 of our other favorites from the contest.

A fluorescent photo of a turtle embryo took first place. The photographers stacked and stitched together hundreds of images to fully capture every detail.

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Teresa Zgoda and Teresa Kugler/Nikon Small World

A trippy image of three stentors, a type of single-celled protozoa that lives in freshwater and feeds on algae, snagged second place.

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Dr. Igor Siwanowicz/Nikon Small World

A photo showing a fluorescent alligator embryo came in third. The picture was taken just 20 days into the creatures development, as nerves and a skeleton formed.

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Daniel Smith Paredes and Dr. Bhart-Anjan S. Bhullar/Nikon Small World

Here are the rest of the top 20 selections, followed by 20 of our personal favorites:

4. The bushy antennae of a male mosquito.

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Jan Rosenboom/Nikon Small World

5. A crystal-clear snowflake.

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Caleb Foster/Nikon Small World

6. The soul-piercing eyes of a small spider covered in white hair.

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Javier Ruprez/Nikon Small World

7. The pollen-releasing stamen of a Chinese red carnation.

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Dr. Guillermo Lpez Lpez/Nikon Small World

8. A frozen water droplet magnified eight times.

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Garzon Christian/Nikon Small World

9. A tulip bud, sliced open to show the petals and stamen curled inside.

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Andrei Savitsky/Nikon Small World

10. Cells from the pulmonary artery of a young cow undergo the telophase stage of mitosis, in which they form two nuclei before dividing into two new cells.

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Jason M. Kirk/Nikon Small World

11. The ovaries of a fruit fly. The protein filament F-actin is stained yellow, nuclei are green, and follicle cells are magenta.

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Dr. Yujun Chen and Dr. Jocelyn McDonald/Nikon Small World

12. A squirming mosquito larva.

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Anne Algar/Nikon Small World

13. Cuprite, a mineral composed of copper oxide.

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Dr. Emilio Carabajal Mrquez/Nikon Small World

14. A female lynx spider.

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Antoine Franck/Nikon Small World

15. A pregnant freshwater crustacean called Daphnia magna.

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Marek Mi/Nikon Small World

16. A houseflys eye, magnified 50 times.

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Dr. Razvan Cornel Constantin/Nikon Small World

17. A crystal of ascorbic acid, also known as vitamin C, reveals fascinating structures under a microscope.

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Karl Deckart/Nikon Small World

18. A crystal of cristobalite suspended in quartz.

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E. Billie Hughes/Nikon Small World

19. A California two-spot octopus embryo.

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Martyna Lukoseviciute and Dr. Carrie Albertin/Nikon Small World

20. Blood vessels in a mouse heart after it suffered a heart attack.

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Simon Merz, Lea Bornemann and Sebastian Korste/Nikon Small World

In addition to those winners, 15 photos got honorable mentions. Here are the best ones, starting with this image of a moth wing.

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Ji Yuan/Nikon Small World

Mold grows on a plum seed.

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Sergii Dymchenko/Nikon Small World

A blend of vitamin C crystals and sugar.

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Andrey Semenenko/Nikon Small World

A fossilized ammonite: a sea creature that went extinct around 66 million years ago.

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Dr. Balint Markus/Nikon Small World

Amino acids, the building blocks of proteins and life, crystallized under a microscope.

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Justin Zoll/Nikon Small World

Dozens more fantastic photos received recognition from the judges as "images of distinction." This one show eggs inside a brine shrimp.

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Dr. Omid Golzar/Nikon Small World

A cereal rye leaf curls around its stem.

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Anatoly Mikhaltsov/Nikon Small World

A tiny daphnia, a crustacean also known as a water flea.

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Michael Landgrebe/Nikon Small World

Karlsbad Sprudelstein, a type of sedimentary rock.

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Dr. Bernardo Cesare and Dr. Axel Munnecke/Nikon Small World

A single-celled organism called Paramecium caudatum, which had been fed yeast cells stained with red dye.

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Anne Gleich/Nikon Small World

Molten caffeine.

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Thomas Borowitz/Nikon Small World

The deer-like antennae of a Haplomalachius flabellatus insect.

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Can Tuner/Nikon Small World

A mouses mammary gland, which was grown in a lab.

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Dr. Livvi Harris/Nikon Small World

The threads of a striated muscle cell in heart tissue, which was developed from a human stem cell.

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Abigail C. Neininger and Dr. Dylan T. Burnette/Nikon Small World

The magnified surface of a seed.

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Johann Swanepoel/Nikon Small World

The sporangia structures that produce spores, tucked inside the leaf of a lady fern.

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Dr. Somayeh Naghiloo and Dr. Sedighe Nikzat/Nikon Small World

A bearing from a mechanical watch.

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Dr. Haris Antonopoulos/Nikon Small World

Myoepithelial cells wrapped around milk-producing sacs in a mouses mammary gland.

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Caleb Dawson/Nikon Small World

A single-celled algae called Triceratium morlandii.

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Larry G. Gouliard/Nikon Small World

An ornate crystal of methylsulphonal, an organic sulfur compound.

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Dr. Detlef Strehmel/Nikon Small World

The best microscope photos of the year reveal a strange and hidden universe in astonishing detail

A fluorescent photo of a turtle embryo took first place. The photographers stacked and stitched together hundreds of images to fully capture every detail.

A trippy image of three stentors, a type of single-celled protozoa that lives in freshwater and feeds on algae, snagged second place.

A photo showing a fluorescent alligator embryo came in third. The picture was taken just 20 days into the creatures development, as nerves and a skeleton formed.

4. The bushy antennae of a male mosquito.

5. A crystal-clear snowflake.

6. The soul-piercing eyes of a small spider covered in white hair.

7. The pollen-releasing stamen of a Chinese red carnation.

8. A frozen water droplet magnified eight times.

9. A tulip bud, sliced open to show the petals and stamen curled inside.

10. Cells from the pulmonary artery of a young cow undergo the telophase stage of mitosis, in which they form two nuclei before dividing into two new cells.

11. The ovaries of a fruit fly. The protein filament F-actin is stained yellow, nuclei are green, and follicle cells are magenta.

12. A squirming mosquito larva.

13. Cuprite, a mineral composed of copper oxide.

14. A female lynx spider.

15. A pregnant freshwater crustacean called Daphnia magna.

16. A houseflys eye, magnified 50 times.

17. A crystal of ascorbic acid, also known as vitamin C, reveals fascinating structures under a microscope.

18. A crystal of cristobalite suspended in quartz.

19. A California two-spot octopus embryo.

20. Blood vessels in a mouse heart after it suffered a heart attack.

In addition to those winners, 15 photos got honorable mentions. Here are the best ones, starting with this image of a moth wing.

Mold grows on a plum seed.

A blend of vitamin C crystals and sugar.

A fossilized ammonite: a sea creature that went extinct around 66 million years ago.

Amino acids, the building blocks of proteins and life, crystallized under a microscope.

Dozens more fantastic photos received recognition from the judges as "images of distinction." This one show eggs inside a brine shrimp.

A cereal rye leaf curls around its stem.

A tiny daphnia, a crustacean also known as a water flea.

Karlsbad Sprudelstein, a type of sedimentary rock.

A single-celled organism called Paramecium caudatum, which had been fed yeast cells stained with red dye.

Molten caffeine.

The deer-like antennae of a Haplomalachius flabellatus insect.

A mouses mammary gland, which was grown in a lab.

The threads of a striated muscle cell in heart tissue, which was developed from a human stem cell.

The magnified surface of a seed.

The sporangia structures that produce spores, tucked inside the leaf of a lady fern.

A bearing from a mechanical watch.

Myoepithelial cells wrapped around milk-producing sacs in a mouses mammary gland.

A single-celled algae called Triceratium morlandii.

An ornate crystal of methylsulphonal, an organic sulfur compound.

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