Nasa astronaut Don Pettit has captivated the internet with a striking photograph taken from space, showing the Saudi Arabian city of Mecca shimmering against the night. The orbital image reveals a brilliant central glow visible distinctly even from 400 kilometres above Earth.Don Pettit shared the image highlighting “Islam’s holiest city” being visible even from space. “Orbital views of Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The bright spot in the centre is the Kaaba, Islam’s holiest site, visible even from space,” he wrote.The image captures Mecca’s vast urban landscape nestled within rugged valleys, with the Grand Mosque (Masjid al-Haram) centring the shot. At night, the city glows due to the light pollution caused by millions of LED and sodium lights whose brightness scatters through the atmosphere and is easily picked up by the ISS’s sensitive cameras.Users were left swooning over the “divine light” of the holy city as underscored by one of the netizens. “From orbit, the Kaaba’s glow hits different—like Earth’s own eternal nightlight for the soul. Divine flex,” they wrote.While other users thanked the astronaut in different words for the aerial sight he shared.Pettit, an accomplished astrophotographer and chemical engineer, has built a remarkable reputation for translating the technical challenges of space photography into artistic masterpieces that blend science with visual poetry.Pettit’s photographic portfolio documents remarkable phenomena across multiple dimensions.His captures include stunning star trails above Earth’s cloud formations, dramatic lightning storms over continental rainforests, auroras dancing across polar regions, and unexpected human elements
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