The photo doesn’t do the sight justice, but here’s a 15-second exposure of the Space Shuttle (left) and the International Space Station (right) flying over Nashville on Monday evening:

If you’re wondering why the Parthenon isn’t in the foreground, as promised, it’s because I realized about 20 minutes before the flyover that the planned picture wouldn’t work: the Parthenon was far too brightly illuminated, and thus would be massively overexposed in any photo with a long enough exposure to capture the Shuttle and ISS. Worse, I was worried the blinding light of the illuminated Parthenon would make it impossible to even see the flyover. So I hastily changed plans, walked outside the circle of klieg lights that shine on the darn thing, and found a dark(er) spot where I could see Cassiopeia (it’s below, and slightly to the right, of the ISS in the photo above), because I knew that would mean I’d be able to see the flyover.

Obviously, if I’d realized the Parthenon idea wasn’t going to work, I could have sought out a location where I wouldn’t have been photographing directly into the light dome of Nashville… but oh well. It was still an absolutely fantastic sight to watch the two spacecraft flying overhead — definitely my best satellite-viewing experience to date. I almost literally started jumping up and down with glee when I saw them both, trailing each other across the sky, and I did literally shout to a pair of random strangers walking by, “Hey! You see those lights flying overhead! That’s the Shuttle and the Space Station!” Hey, I wanted to share it with somebody! :) They were quite appreciative, and thought it was cool too. Anyway, here’s another photo, a 10-second exposure this time:

And here’s one of me, earlier, in front of the Parthenon: