NASA has released two photos, taken 48 years apart, which shows contrasting views of southern Asia. The pictures were taken, one during daylight and other during the night show the peninsula of southern India. The night image which was clicked from the International Space Station (ISS) shows the clear picture of human geography of cities of different sizes, such as Kochi and Coimbatore, and the highways that connect cities. The dark zone parallels to the coast is the unpopulated hilly escarpment, known as the southern Ghats. The clouds are illuminated by a nearly-full moon. NASA Captures Massive Thermonuclear Explosion From Outer Space.

NASA Earth tweeted both the photos with the caption, "EO On This Day: India by Night and Day. Two photos, taken 48 years apart, provide contrasting views of southern Asia." The green in the picture taken during the day has been replaced with lights in the recently taken photo.

NASA Clicks India by Night and Day:

The daylight panorama was taken by the crew of the Gemini 11 spacecraft (September 1966). It shows the coastlines and land surface colour, but there are no details of human geography. This view was taken on an early space flight at a similar altitude to that of the ISS. The photo shows bright white cloud cover over surfaces of India and Sri Lanka. Since its creation in late April 1999, NASA Earth Observatory has released more than 15,000 images of our planet. From satellite images, data maps, aerial to space-based, they have been telling us what our Earth looks like from up above.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 28, 2020 04:35 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).