Lyrid meteors blaze alongside the glow of the Milky Way. (Image credit: Josh Dury)

Astrophotographer Josh Dury captured a stunning view of the Milky Way arcing through the night sky above Scotland's Isle of Skye, as shooting stars carved fiery paths through Earth's atmosphere.

"With my star tracker engaged, I sat on a small boulder with river water running between my feet — thank god I brought wellies!", Dury recalled in an email to Space.com. "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."

Dury's composite image reveals several bright Lyrid meteors racing alongside the Milky Way , while colossal dust lanes darken the dense star fields along the galactic plane.…