India lit up
with a dazzling display of lights and colours during Diwali, with social media
sites flooded with photographs of celebration.  However, there is one
picture that many people were eagerly waiting for – NASA’s image of India from
outer space.  Though not capturing celebrations on the ground, the space
agency’s greetings left everyone in awe.

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It is
difficult to avoid fake pictures of ‘India as seen from space’ around
Diwali.  Although these have been fact-checked by several portals and
found to be untrue, the image ends up in our social media feeds every year, if
nothing else as an ongoing lie.  This time, too, as people kept tagging
the International Space Station (ISS) and NASA to share some shots from space,
they finally got a glimpse of an epic “sparkling starfield” captured
by the Hubble Telescope.

Posting a
breath-taking image of thousands of bright stars called a globular cluster, the
agency said, “It contains a densely packed collection of coloured stars
close to the heart of the Milky Way.”  NASA explained that
interstellar gas and dust absorb star light, making observation more challenging. 
However, this stunning image is possible thanks to advanced telescopes. 

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NASA further
said that “Interstellar absorption affects some wavelengths of light more than
others, changing the colors of astronomical objects by causing them to appear
redder than they actually are.”

The agency
identified the globular cluster as ESO 520-21 (also known as Palomar 6), which
lies in the constellation Ophiuchus, near the celestial equator.

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As soon as
NASA released the photo netizens thanked the agency on social media. One user
wrote, “This is my favourite Diwali greeting of the year. Thank you, @NASA!
Fireworks dim in the glow of the stars”.

“In the
universe every day is #diwali. Happy Diwali”, one user wrote

Another
while retweeting post captioned, “Unreal”.