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| - Fact Check: All that glitters is not Diwali
A graphic image is being shared on social media with the claim that it is the night view of an illuminated India captured by NASA during Diwali.
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India Today Fact Check
This is a composite image of India created by NOAA on population growth.
A stunning graphic image is being shared on social media with the claim that it is the night view of an illuminated India captured by NASA during Diwali.
An old post by Facebook user Vishnu Varma is still being shared widely. It shows a glittering image of the Indian subcontinent. The caption reads India at night during Diwali NASA.
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found the post to be misleading. This is not an image of India taken by a NASA satellite on Diwali night, but a composite of satellite photos of India created by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in 2003 to highlight population growth over time.
Viral post is 8 years old
This particular image has been going viral on the Internet from time to time for more than eight years. Facebook user Vishnu Varma first put up this post in 2011 and it is still being shared by a large number of social media users. The archived version of the post can be seen here.
Till now, this post has been shared more than 88,000 times on Facebook .
AFWA probe
A reverse search on the viral image shows up various articles, which clearly indicate that even the premier organisation of United States on space research, NASA, had denied the claim.
On November 12, 2012, NASA released an original image of Diwali night over Southern Asia. According to NASA, the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP satellite captured this night-time view.
Original Diwali night image of South Asia by NASA, 2012
The image has been brightened to make city lights easier to distinguish, because as per NASA, in reality, any extra light produced during Diwali is so subtle that it is likely imperceptible when observed from space.
As per NASA, 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.
The viral image is actually colour-composite, created in 2003 by NOAA scientist Chris Elvidge to highlight population growth over time.
NOAA image to show population growth in sub-continent, 2003
Therefore, we can conclude that the viral post claiming this to be a NASA satellite image of Diwali night in India is misleading. This is a composite picture of various satellite images created by NOAA to show population growth in the sub-continent. Mashable.
Also read: Fact Check: Video showing rocket launches by Indian Army has nothing to do with PoK
Also read: Fact Check: Statement of Dushyant Chautala supporting BJP is five years old
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