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Viral photo of India on Diwali eve is not taken by NASA

A photo of India on Diwali eve taken from space, apparently by NASA, is going viral across social media platforms. Do not fall for this hoax from 2012, and this photo was not taken by NASA.

s much as we would like to believe that the scientists at National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will keep in mind to turn one of their spectacular cameras mount on some space station towards India, every year, on Diwali eve to capture a stunning picture of India from space, is a bit too much.

Four out of 10 scientists working with NASA could be Indians, but expectations like the one mentioned above will not be met. Maybe that is why some proud (or dejected) Indians share the same fake photo of India apparently captured from space with captions that says “NASA releases new image of India on Diwali eve” year after year.

This photo:

This is, without doubt, a stunning image of India. But it was not taken this year, it was not taken by NASA, it was not taken during Diwali and the worst part, it is not even a real photograph.

A Mashable report from 2012 says that this image ‘is a composite of satellite photos of India created by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in 2003.’

Here are some tweets from 2012

And here are some tweets from this year

Having said that, no harm being proud imagining people across India coming together to celebrate a festival.

Source: Indiatoday.in