Sighting in Odos, October 25, 2013
Hautes-Pyrénées, Occitanie, France
Sighting on October 25, 2013 in Odos (Hautes-Pyrénées, France). GEIPAN identified the phenomenon with certainty: it was the planet Venus (class A).
What happened
At about 8 p.m., two people noticed a very bright white point in the sky that stayed motionless. The witness put it at 45° above the horizon, but the photograph shows it much lower, in line with the real elevation of Venus, around 8°30'.
The investigation established that at that hour Venus lay to the south-west. The planet was at its maximum brightness (magnitude -5). According to the Meteociel record, the sky was very transparent, with 35 km visibility despite some cloud. These exceptional conditions made the planet especially conspicuous. A passing cloud later hid it from the witnesses. The GEIPAN classified the case as A: the sighting was of Venus.
Account rewritten by SkyUnknown from the investigation report published by GEIPAN (CNES). The original text and case documents are on the official record.
- Date
- October 25, 2013
- Location
- Odos · town centre
- Type of sighting
- From the ground
- Source classification
- A
- Explanation
- Planets
Sources
- See the original document
GEIPAN (CNES)
n° 2013-10-08591
Summary written by SkyUnknown from the facts published by the source.