- NASA astronaut Chris Williams shared a night image of India's west coast from the ISS.
- Bright green lights in the Arabian Sea are fishing fleets using powerful LED lamps.
- These green lights attract plankton, small fish, and squid for commercial fishing.
NASA astronaut Chris Williams shared a breathtaking image of the Indian coast taken from the International Space Station (ISS). As the ISS passed over the west coast of India at night, the astronaut photographed clusters of bright, neon-green lights glowing in the dark expanse of the Arabian Sea. While they look like underwater bioluminescence or even alien activity, these are actually commercial fishing fleets. Fishermen use incredibly powerful green LED lamps to attract plankton and small fish, which in turn draw in squid.
"Looking out the windows of the @iss during a night pass, you can occasionally see greenish lights just off the coast. These lights are from fishing boats that use the green light to attract squid and other fish. I captured this image while we were flying over the west of India," the caption of the image read.
These lights are so intense that they are easily visible to astronauts. From orbit, they appear as concentrated emerald dots scattered along the coastline, in between deep black of the ocean and the yellow hues of city lights.
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See the image here:
Who is Chris Williams?
According to the space agency, Williams was selected as a NASA astronaut candidate in December 2021. He reported for duty in January 2022 to complete two years of initial astronaut training. "During his first mission to the International Space Station, NASA astronaut Chris Williams will serve as a flight engineer and Expedition 74 crew member," NASA wrote.
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Social media Reaction
"Notice the stars? Notice how it's exactly the right conditions to see stars, unlike images like Earth Rise or Blue Marble?" one user wrote in the comment section.
"What? thats earth, no way. Thats a spectacular view," another stated.
One user simply wrote "Home", along with heart and home emojis.
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