Saint-Mande 1979, Observation of Venus

Summary

In January 1979, a witness in Saint-Mande observed a bright point moving slowly across the sky. Intrigued, he took several photographs between 6:15 and 8:30 in the morning. The ascending trajectory of the object from east to west caught his attention. Later analysis concluded that the observed object was Venus, which was exceptionally visible at that time of year. Its magnitude of -4.41 made it particularly bright, explaining the initial confusion of the witness.