Storm erupts over Pacific Ocean as plane zooms past at 37,000 ft. The amazing picture shows a massive cloud erupting against a starry night sky as the off-duty airman Santiago Borja flew over the Pacific near Panama City. He had just moments to take the breathtaking snap as the Boeing 767 zoomed by at 37,000 ft on its way from North America to Ecuador. He also had take the picture perfectly in time with the flash of lightning to capture the storm in all its glory. (Photo by Santiago Borja/Solent News)

The Pioneer Team, a civil aerobatic team from Italy, let off pyrotechnics from their Pioneer 330 aircraft during the Malta International Airshow off SmartCity Malta, outside Valletta, Malta, September 24, 2016. (Photo by Darrin Zammit Lupi/Reuters)

An incredible view of Thunderstorms light up the insides of clouds near a beautiful sky line. This is truly heavenly weather as pictures taken from an airplane cockpit reveal what pilots see from above. It looks like at cruising altitude the weather really hots up, with the flight deck revealing some amazing scenes. Thunderstorms light up the insides of clouds, lightening streaks across the sky like cracks in a windscreen, the northern lights sweep uninterrupted across the sky and the galaxy stretches on forever. The pictures were captured by senior first officer Christiaan van Heijst, a 33-year-old from the Netherlands, and his friend Daan Krans. (Photo by Christiaan van Heijst/Daan Krans/Caters News Agency)

Brush fires in Everglades National Park, Florida make for a dramatic Milky Way in this panorama. A photographer set out to inspire awe in nature's wonders through the tropical wetlands of Florida. (Photo by Mark Andrew Thomas/Rex Feature/Shutterstock)

An incredible moon rise behind the World Trade Center, Manhattan, New York on August 23, 2016. The breath-taking photo was taken by photographer Jennifer Khordi. She said: it was just absolutely amazing to see this. (Photo by Jennifer Khordi/Caters News Agency)

A Perseid meteor streaks across the sky above Inspiration Point early on August 12, 2016 in Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah. The annual display, known as the Perseid shower because the meteors appear to radiate from the constellation Perseus in the northeastern sky, is a result of Earth's orbit passing through debris from the comet Swift-Tuttle. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

A shooting star (L, top) is seen on the night sky during the perseid meteor shower in Jankowo, near Poznan, 11 August 2016. The first half of August is traditionally the best time to look out for meteors called “shooting stars”, or perseids which are the leftover dust particles of a comet tail associated with comet Swift-Tuttle. (Photo by Lukasz Ogrodowczyk/EPA)

Gorgeous galaxies and stunning stars make up this selection of pictures from the shortlisted entries for this year’s Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year award. The winners will be announced on 15 September, and an exhibition of the winning images will be will be displayed in a free exhibition at the Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Centre from 17 September. Here: “Seven Magic Points”. The rusty red swirls of the circular, iron sculpture Seven Magic Points in Brattebergan, Norway mirror the rippling aurora above. (Photo by Rune Engebø/Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2016/National Maritime Museum)