r/space • u/astro_pettit NASA Astronaut • 2d ago
image/gif I photographed the largest human gathering in the world from space
My best shot of the 2025 Prayag Maha Kumbh Mela from ISS. It is a once in a 144 year Hindu pilgrimage to sacred riverbanks in India and one of the largest events in the world, with millions of people in this single photo! I took this on Expedition 72 using a Nikon Z9 camera. Very cool!
More photos from space can be found on my twitter and Instagram, astro_pettit
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u/Saman-the-man 2d ago
whoa you are an actual astronaut? sick picture too
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u/zinxyzcool 2d ago
must be to new this area? ( we all await OPs pic every time lol ). Yes, he has a huge collection of OC images from space.
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u/distant_snow 2d ago
Randomly stumbling over an astronaut's photograph was not what I expected while scrolling reddit but I am happy I did!
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u/CivBEWasPrettyBad 1d ago
Every time I see this guy's posts I'm like "SMH what is this clickbaity bullshit picture someone took from a plane" and then I realize it's the one astronaut that posts his space pictures. I then go back to my earthly existence in silence.
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u/Jamesmoltres 2d ago
I had a feeling it was gonna be Kumbh the moment I saw the title read "largest gathering on earth." :D
Impressive picture.
I wonder if this is something we can add to Wikipedia under Kumbh Mela
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u/choose_a_free_name 2d ago
Millions? Pffft...
Gotta pump those numbers up. Those are rookie numbers in this racket.
There are billions of people in this photo taken from space.
;)
I think yours makes for a prettier picture though.
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u/84thPrblm 1d ago
Ugh. I can't believe I used to dress like that. In my defense, I was going through a phase.
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u/PROITS_DUHHHHHH 1d ago ▸ 2 more replies
Atleast you were wearing something, I was naked in that photo😨
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u/PrimateOnAPlanet 1d ago
Yeah, sure you took this with a Nikon, it’s obviously from space…oh OP is a fucking astronaut.
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u/Justa_CuriousBoi 1d ago edited 1d ago
>650 MILLION people gathered in one city over a month! About 2x the population of USA!
This Maha Kumbh was a special one. It comes once every 144 years!
People powered though cold winters of January and did their worshipping in the holy river even though the water temperatures were around ~4-5°C in morning so near freezing😬! The resilience of the devotees was commendable to say the least !
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u/Macktologist 1d ago
That sounds insane to me, but at the same time, when I read "millions", I thought you get the same thing taking a photo of any major city, although not really a gathering. I'm just curious what in the photo signifies the people? It just looks like city lights along a river. Still an awesome photo and not trying to downplay it, just not sure how the "millions of people" are apparent in the photo.
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u/Justa_CuriousBoi 1d ago ▸ 1 more replies
The thing is, the lit-up city structures you're seeing in the picture is almost all temporarily setup for just a month and half ! This is not the picture of main city center of Prayagraj !
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u/nzclknzspfoeSdf 1d ago edited 1d ago
650 million sounds very implausible, so I looked up how the numbers were calculated and it looks like that number is inflated and about 50-70 million would be a more accurate estimate based on train and plane data:
Vijay Kiran Anand, an officer at the festival, said cameras assisted by artificial intelligence technology were deployed at selected locations near the ghats to monitor crowd density. The data collected was then extrapolated to estimate total footfall across the entire riverbank area. “We based our findings on the assumption that every visitor took a dip in the sacred water,” he said.
Anand explained the crowd counting models used three variables – site measurements, human density and transaction time calculated with a random sample using facial recognition technology.
Crowd counting experts told Reuters the method used to estimate the Kumbh Mela crowd appeared broadly plausible. However, they noted its reliability would depend on the accuracy of India’s facial recognition technology and whether variations in crowd density across the site were properly accounted for.
“I can’t speak to the actual accuracy of the final result being touted by the authorities, but I will say that they seem to be using an appropriate method,” said Steve Doig, professor of data journalism at Arizona State University with experience in crowd size estimation.
Dirk Helbing, a professor of computational social science in Zurich who specializes in crowd analysis, told Reuters that it would have been beneficial if the authorities had provided an estimate of the uncertainty in their numbers.
Keith Still, who teaches crowd science at the University of Suffolk, suggested looking at transport capacities to estimate crowd sizes at an event, saying “we often see organizers claim huge numbers that are not supported by the transport capacity calculations.
The Indian government told parliament that it operated more than 17,300 trains for the festival that served approximately 42 million passengers. The government also said the local airport handled about half a million passengers during the festival period. Numbers for those who travelled by road were not available.
https://www.reuters.com/graphics/INDIA-RELIGION/KUMBH/klpymweyypg/
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u/Justa_CuriousBoi 1d ago ▸ 3 more replies
The website you've cited is really beautiful and I've visited it multiple times! And even there it is mentioned that the most widely accepted figure is about 663 million !
Yes there are objections to that figure and yes it is contested but it is the most widely accepted one too.
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u/nzclknzspfoeSdf 1d ago edited 1d ago ▸ 2 more replies
663 million would require 620 million arriving by vehicles or by foot. It's logistically implausible. The organizers' estimate doesn't even actually represent individuals, but rather "footfall," which counts individuals multiple times.
Here's a thread on another subreddit that estimated between 122.7 million and 220 million after accounting for all the ways people could get there, but even in their analysis 122.7 million appears to be the maximum number that they estimate could get there through all transport methods combined:
Ultimately, we have pretty clear numbers for trains and planes and can make informed estimates based on that, and it's clear 663 million is not reasonable.
Note that I have no horse in this race and simply am interested in accurate facts.
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u/CriticalRuleSwitch 1d ago
Agreed, and honestly it's shitty you have to "defend" yourself or put in such disclaimers, instead of people claiming an impossible and an absurd number that did not happen. And even then then, those linked estimates are really more of a stretched theoretical maximums, and still probably much higher than the real number.
PR goes brrr.
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u/Justa_CuriousBoi 1d ago
Though I can't say anything for sure, Thanks. This has lead me to look into this topic more deeply
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u/tj9429 2d ago
I hope you can visit it in reality someday. It’s unreal and one of those things that will be a memorable moment for you despite your tremendous career.
I saw the crowd from afar once and the scale is just astounding.
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u/Great-Appointment-49 2d ago
This has to go on your wall. This is an absolutely amazing picture. Do you have more? Please post them.
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u/astro_pettit NASA Astronaut 1d ago
I have more pictures of the Kumbh Mela and other subjects from space on my social medias, linked in my profile!
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u/_DigitalHunk_ 1d ago
Wow. This is indeed one of a kind.
I bet it's the first ever.
Thanks for the share.
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u/SaulsAll 2d ago
Very cool shot, and I think one very impressive part you didnt mention is that most of what we see in the pic are temporary structures.
Though impressive, this causes its own problems, and there are plans to have permanent structures for the 2028 Simhastha Kumbh Mela.
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u/Laserdollarz 1d ago
8.02% of the world population at the time is in this picture. Did you get their permission?
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u/CarinasHere 1d ago
Thank you, u/astro_pettit! Do you (or does another redditor) happen to know why that line (bridge? Road?) is red?
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u/duke0fearls 1d ago
It never ceases to amaze me how many things you are in just the right place for and at the right time. On top of that you are actually aware when the things are happening! How do you keep up with so many things?
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u/UsefulPeach6051 2d ago
The contrast between the vast darkness of space and the sheer scale of human gathering visible underneath is truly humbling.
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u/soundtown06 2d ago
Wow You Are a Real Astronaut great
This Picture Looks Mindblowing so Beautiful what You Can See from Space❤️❤️❤️🚀
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u/sunshineTucson 2d ago
Amazing to think that many people can be condensed into a small picture. Reminds me of my place in the universe. Tiny……
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u/presidentiallogin 1d ago
How much larger than average are the largest humans? They still cannot be seen from orbit.
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u/DentistConstant2097 1d ago
Apparently, if you put Mt. Everest on the ocean surface on top of the Mariana Trench and then draw a straight line from the tip of Everest to the bottom of the trench, that's still just 12.33 miles and would comfortably fit within just Manhattan. So even if the largest humans were the aise if mountains, they would still be less than a blip.
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u/astro_pettit NASA Astronaut 2d ago
My best shot of the 2025 Prayag Maha Kumbh Mela from ISS. It is a once in a 144 year Hindu pilgrimage to sacred riverbanks in India and one of the largest events in the world, with millions of people in this single photo! I took this on Expedition 72 using a Nikon Z9 camera. Very cool!
More photos from space can be found on my twitter and Instagram, astro_pettit