Fooled once more? Viral pic of India from space on Diwali was clicked 20 days before

Nesloni’s tweet received 4.5K retweets and was liked nearly 7.5K times.

Paolo Nespoli tweeted the picture on Diwali, but his tweet does not mention the day it was captured. (Paolo Nespoli’s Twitter)

On October 19, a European Space Agency astronaut tweeted a picture taken from space.

The picture shows an illuminated Indian subcontinent. Paolo Nespoli tweeted the picture on Diwali, but did not mention the day it was captured.

The picture, captured by Nespoli, was originally clicked on September 29, 20 days before Diwali and uploaded on the astronaut's flickr account. 'India' and 'Pakistan' featured among the tags accompanying the picture.

(Paolo Nesloni's Flickr account)

(Paolo Nesloni's Flickr account)

"Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights, starts today. #HappyDiwali to everyone! #VITAmission," read the text accompanying the picture.

Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights, starts today. #HappyDiwali to everyone! #VITAmission pic.twitter.com/Uygnc8tTWx

— Paolo Nespoli (@astro_paolo) October 19, 2017

The bright orange line of light running across the picture appears to be the Pakistan-India international border, as reported on NASA's website.

Remember how images of India 'as seen from space' crop up on the internet around Diwali, only to be proved fake each time? Well, social media seems to have fallen prey to it again.

Nesloni's tweet received 4.5K retweets and was liked nearly 7.5K times.

Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights, starts today. #HappyDiwali to everyone! #VITAmission pic.twitter.com/Uygnc8tTWx

— Paolo Nespoli (@astro_paolo) October 19, 2017

Several social media users, assuming it was a picture of the country on Diwali, expressed awe and thanked Nespoli.

Marvellous picture ! Thank you for sharing !

— Gérald Malempré (@geraldmalempre) October 19, 2017

thank you for sharing the stunning pic. love from india! ☺#HappyDiwali

— Chanakya Kumar Das (@iamckdas) October 20, 2017

Several users were, however, quick to point out that the picture was not from Diwali.

Okay, tried to impose on a captured image from google earth. pic.twitter.com/ZJ24lVzcyx

— Sudip (@iam_Sudip) October 22, 2017

Here's a fact. Just found out with the help of @PC0101
This photo was taken on 29th September. See here. https://t.co/qPewi6JbkB

— Sumit Sundriyal 🇮🇳 (@SumitSun14) October 22, 2017

Lesson to be learnt - all that glitters is not India on Diwali.