New Delhi: NASA has released nighttime images of India, captured as the International Space Station (ISS) passed over the Arabian Sea and the Himalayas. The images shows the Indian subcontinent illuminated by extensive city lights, forming a network of bright clusters against the dark background of Earth. Taken with a wide angle lens, the photos capture the densely populated plains of India, and the darker, less developed Himalayan mountain range to the north. The views illustrate the scale of human settlement and infrastructure from an altitude of about 400 kilometres.
The ISS flying over Gujarat. (Image Credit: NASA).
This type of Earth observation imagery is routinely collected by ISS crew members using handheld digital cameras as part of NASA’s Crew Earth Observations programme. Such images support studies in urban development, energy consumption patterns and geography by providing high-resolution views of large-scale features that satellites may not always capture with the same contextual detail. The images were captured by crew members of the ongoing Expedition 72. Previously, Gaganyatri Shubhanshu Shukla has showcased views of India captured from orbit during his short visit to the ISS last year. NASA astronaut Don Pettit, who is also an expert photographer, posted photos of the 2025 Maha Kumbh Mela. Interested readers can also check out our gallery of India captured from the ISS.
A natural boundary with regional influence
The Himalayan portion of the image highlights the natural boundary formed by the highest mountain range in the world, which influences regional climate, water resources and biodiversity. Nighttime views such as these reveal the distribution of human activity, with cities on the coast and plains, contrasting with the dark mountain regions. In the foreground is a portion of the Cygnus 23 cargo shuttle, and the Soyuz-MS 28 spaceship. The images were likely captured from the Cupola, a module with seven windows that provides a 360 degree panoramic view of the Earth.