- Josh Dury captured a stunning image of Lyrid meteors over the Isle of Skye's waterfalls
- The Lyrid meteor shower peaks in April with up to 20 meteors per hour visible in dark skies
- The image shows meteors streaking alongside the Milky Way and the Three Brothers waterfalls
Josh Dury, an astrophotographer, shared a breathtaking image of Lyrid meteors streaking across the night sky, against a stunning backdrop of the Milky Way. The image captured from Scotland's Isle of Skye looked even more beautiful because of the trio of waterfalls known as the "Three Brothers of Skye" shining below. Dury, who captured the scene during the annual Lyrid meteor shower, called the moment "nothing short of magical".
"With my star tracker engaged, I sat on a small boulder with river water running between my feet - thank god I brought wellies!" Dury told Space.com in an email. "The most magical moment of all, as with any experience with the stars, is when you know all is safe; the camera is running and then - turn off the red torch."
See the image here:
The composite image reveals several bright Lyrid meteors, one of the oldest recorded meteor showers that has been visible for more than 2,700 years, racing alongside the Milky Way. The Lyrid meteor shower occurs each April when Earth passes through debris left by Comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher. As particles enter the atmosphere at about 29 miles per second, they burn up and create bright streaks known as "shooting stars". The shower peaked overnight April 21-22 this year, with viewers in the Northern Hemisphere seeing up to 20 meteors per hour under dark skies.
"To see the reality was nothing short of magical - with the sound of gushing water, the ghostly appearance of the waterfall and the splendour of the Milky Way rising over The Three Brothers of Skye was just utterly romantic and purely magnificent," Dury continued.
The image also frames some of the night sky's most recognisable stars. Vega, the fifth-brightest star in the night sky, appeared near the top of the frame within the constellation Lyra. On the other hand, Altair can be seen below. Deneb glows to the left, marking the tail of the great swan in Cygnus. Together, the three form the famous Summer Triangle.
To achieve this look, photographers typically use a technique called compositing. Since meteors appear at different times, Dury likely kept his camera in a fixed position for several hours, capturing the background stars and then stacking every frame that caught a meteor into a single, final masterpiece.
While sharing the image on Instagram, Dury wrote, "Even with a romantic scene like this one, the true power and harness of Astrophotography is becoming distinct."
"The number of satellites beginning to mask our view of the sky creates much agony in my soul. To see the subject and profession change in just a matter of years. It does make me wonder how many more the subject has left to enjoy the comic splendour that is - the night sky," he added.
