Glowworm Glowing in the Dead of Night

Credit:

KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/R. T. Sparks

When the weather conditions are just right, glowworms come out at night at Kitt Peak National Observatory. This glowworm crossed the road in front of the WIYN 3.5-meter telescope as the last of the summer Milky Way sets behind the WIYN dome. Although only the tail end of the glowworm is bioluminescent, the glowworm appears as a streak over the 10 second  exposure, and the image shows how much distance it covered over the period of the exposure.