Sorry Guys, Even The New "Diwali From Space" Image Posted By An Astronaut Isn't Exactly Correct
Posted on Diwali, captioned for Diwali, but not a Diwali shot. And yes, there's proof.
Last week, Indians on Twitter were excited to see European Space Agency astronaut Paolo Nespoli post an image of our country, as viewed from space. With a caption wishing everyone happy Diwali, it was easy for viewers to assume the view of India¡¯s lights from space were thanks to celebrations in the country. That would be wrong.
Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights, starts today. #HappyDiwali to everyone! #VITAmission pic.twitter.com/Uygnc8tTWx
¡ª Paolo Nespoli (@astro_paolo) 19 October 2017
Much to the dismay of a lot of people, that¡¯s not actually a picture of India as it¡¯s lit up on Diwali. Then again, it¡¯s not really a fake either. While the photo was indeed taken by Nespoli and posted to Twitter on October 19, but it¡¯s actually a much older photo.
As a few Twitter users pointed out, the image is part of Nespoli¡¯s Flickr album, as he catalogs his shots on board the International Space Station during the VITA mission. If you check both the caption and the EXIF data available there, it shows the photo was actually taken on September 29, almost a month prior to it appearing on Twitter.
Then, of course, there¡¯s also another fact to consider; your Diwali lights just can¡¯t be seen from space. The illumination you see on the photo is actually India¡¯s cities, where so many lit up homes are clustered close together so you can spot them. And this isn¡¯t even the first time social media has fallen prey to a ¡°India on Diwali¡± image supposedly taken from space.
¡ª Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) 10 November 2015
In 2015, Twitter users mistakenly posted this photo, claiming it was from NASA, showing how India looks when illuminated by Diwali lights. As it turned out, the photo was actually a doctored image of an old population growth study, one that had been deceiving Indians since as far back as 2003.
It¡¯s always important to remember that not everything you see online is true. It¡¯s the Internet after all; trolls, the misinformed, and valid information givers all live there.
