SMILE Satellite Captures First Full View of Earth’s Daytime Auroras

Key points

• SMILE’s ultraviolet imager (UVI) captured the first full view of the northern auroral oval since NASA’s Polar mission ended in 2008.
• The images, taken on July 24, 2026, show auroras on Earth’s dayside, which are usually obscured by sunlight.
• SMILE is a joint mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), launched in May 2026.
• The spacecraft carries four instruments, including a soft X-ray imager (SXI) that has begun testing with images of supernova remnants.
• SMILE will record auroras for 45 hours at a time, helping scientists link solar wind interactions with geomagnetic storms.

Background

SMILE was launched on May 19, 2026, and reached its target orbit on June 20. The mission is part of ESA’s Cosmic Vision programme and aims to answer how the Solar System works by studying Earth’s response to solar wind. Prior to this, the last spacecraft to image the full northern auroral oval in ultraviolet light was NASA’s Polar, which ended its mission in 2008.

How outlets are covering it

Space.com emphasizes the visual novelty of seeing daytime auroras, highlighting the UVI’s capability to capture the full ring of northern lights. ESA focuses on the technical milestone of declaring the mission ready for science operations after a busy commissioning period, noting issues with stray light in the X-ray imager that are being addressed. Scientific American highlights the scientific significance of the auroral substorm images, noting that ultraviolet imaging avoids interference from daytime sunlight and that SMILE will record auroras for 45 hours at a time. All three sources agree on the date of the images (July 24, 2026) and the joint nature of the mission, but differ in emphasis: Space.com on the visual, ESA on the operational milestone, and Scientific American on the scientific implications.

Why it matters

SMILE’s ability to image the full auroral oval in ultraviolet light provides a new tool for understanding how solar wind interacts with Earth’s magnetosphere. This data can help predict geomagnetic storms, which can affect electronic infrastructure and space weather. The mission’s success marks a significant step in international space collaboration and advances our understanding of Earth’s space environment.

What to watch

SMILE’s X-ray imager (SXI) is expected to take its first good image of the magnetopause or northern polar cusp in mid-October 2026, as stray light reduces. The mission will continue to collect data on solar storms and geomagnetic storms, with the goal of improving space weather forecasting and understanding Earth’s magnetic field.