NASA releases the real India on Diwali night image

Washington: NASA, the national space agency of the US, released a black and white satellite imagery of India this Diwali night, cautioning people against the fake image in circulation on the social media. "On November 12, 2012, the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP satellite captured this nighttime view of southern Asia," NASA said releasing a picture of India on this Diwali night.

"The image is based on data collected by the VIIRS 'day- night band', which detects light in a range of wavelengths from green to near-infrared. The image has been brightened to make the city lights easier to distinguish," it said. NASA said most of the bright areas in the imagery released by it are cities and towns in India, the country with the world's largest Hindu population.

"India is home to more than 1.2 billion people and has 30 cities with populations over 1 million. (For comparison, China has 62 cities with more than 1 million residents and the United States has 9)," it said. Cities in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan are also visible near the edges of the image.

• 

  NASA has released new images of the Earth at night, composed from data acquired by the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite over nine days in April 2012 and thirteen days in October 2012. We have zoomed on to the high resolution images to show how prominent Indian cities look at night when seen from space.

  NASA

• 

  Delhi and the National Capital Region

• 

  Mumbai and Pune

• 

  Kolkata

• 

  Chennai

• 

  Bangalore

• 

  Hyderabad

• 

  Ahmedabad and Vadodara

images

NASA releases the real India on Diwali night image

"An image that claims to show the region lit for Diwali has been circulating on social media websites and the Internet in recent years. In fact, it does not show what it claims. That image, based on data from the Operational Linescan System flown on US Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellites, is a colour-composite created in 2003 by NOAA scientist Chris Elvidge to highlight population growth over time," NASA said.

"In that image, white areas show city lights that were visible prior to 1992, while blue, green, and red shades indicate city lights that became visible in 1992, 1998, and 2003 respectively," it said. "In reality, any extra light produced during Diwali is so subtle that it is likely imperceptible when observed from space," NASA said.

Also See

• Stunning pictures of Earth at night time unveiled by NASA's newly launched satellite
• Explore the amazing 1458 megapixel image of the Earth at night in full resolution
• Viral satellite image of 'India on Diwali night' has nothing to do with Diwali
• How major Indian cities look at night from space

(For updates you can share with your friends, follow IBNLive on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest)