Man Reveals the Real Story Behind NASA’s “Satellite” Image of Famous Diwali-lit India

With Diwali comes a ton of social media mass material that readily takes over the internet every year during the celebration, from Whatsapp’s Diwali greetings to festive movies and status updates. Amidst all of that, there is one specific picture that appears on almost every Indian phone every year and has several interpretations. Yes, we are referring about the well-known “satellite image” of India shot during Diwali, which many claim was captured by the “space agency NASA.” To everyone’s amazement, however, the photo has nothing to do with Diwali, and the individual who posted it also provided a detailed explanation refuting the image.

The picture was released by NASA, however the caption claimed that it really displayed a “temporal composite of REAL night lights.” The aforementioned post quickly garnered popularity and a wide range of responses from internet users.

The user “rajbhagatt” posted the picture to the social media platform X, which was once known as Twitter. “Let me explain once again on this usual forwarded message of NASA #satellite picture of India during #Diwali,” the tweet said. The visual composite itself is real; the interpretation is incorrect; that is, it has nothing to do with Deepavali night and is not the genuine event. What then is it? It is a chronological collage of satellite-captured REAL nighttime light pictures.

People responded to the widely shared image in a variety of ways, which caused the post to become viral. While others inquired further to validate the facts supplied by the guy, the majority of individuals complimented him for dispelling long-running rumors regarding the photograph. On the day of Diwali, the post was shared and garnered 195K views.

People voiced their opinions in the comment area. One user commented, “It’s interesting that you can estimate GDP at both national and sub-district levels from such images.” No. This probably comes from DMSP,” another person said. “I appreciate your analysis! A third individual said, “You are the true light this Diwali, and as they say, lights will guide you home.” How far is it from Mumbai? on the ocean? “Bombay High?” inquired a fourth online user. A fifth individual said, “Intense population density and lighting in the Punjab and all along the Indus and its tributaries.” “Outstanding assistance with clarity. Thank you,” a sixth user said. One seventh person said, “I saw it and was wondering how is this possible. Thanks for the detailed analysis.”