Emperor penguins taking the plunge, an Arkansas family experiencing a total solar eclipse, and a scientist holding a rare white rhino fetus are among the most striking and important images captured this year,

One of the world's most well-known magazines has captured these moments in real-time.

The final 20 photos were narrowed down from a pool of 2.3 million − 300,000 more than in 2023, Nat Geo Editor-in-Chief Nathan Lump said.