Apple - small button on the left-hand side of MacBook pro
It's a way to check the battery charge level without having to wake the computer (or even turn it on). If it lights up in all green, then the battery is fully charged.
The newer models actually don't have that feature, but they also get 30 days of standby time now, so they probably figured it wasn't necessary anymore.
These are the battery indicator lights, which show the charge level of your battery when the button is pressed: