This image was taken during the height of the 2001 Lianid meteor shower. The zenith hourly rate may have exceeded 2000 during this exposure. Some of the fainter trails may have resulted from satellites or planes flying through the field of view.

My wife called during this exposure to tell me that her water broke. I rushed home to bring her to the hospital, and within 12 hours, our first child was born. We named her Lia.

• Object: M42 & Lianids
• Exposure: 100 minutes @ f/6.7
• Telescope: Astro-Physics 130 EDF
• Mount: Astro-Physics 600E QMD
• Guiding: SBIG ST-4 @ 700mm
• Camera: Pentax 67
• Film: Kodak PPF 400
• Location: Rumney, NH
• Date: 18-Nov-01 02:04 EST
• Conditions: seeing 7/10, transparency 7/10, LVM 6.8, 25° F, RH 60%
• Processing: UMAX PowerLook 3000, Adobe Photoshop 6.0.1