First Photos from Smile Spacecraft Show Earth’s Auroras in Broad Daylight

The European-Chinese Smile satellite has sent back its first images, and they show Earth’s auroras in a light we have never seen them in before. The spacecraft caught giant auroras rippling over the sunlit North Pole in broad daylight, a view that would normally be hidden from human eyes.

The images were released this week as Smile officially began its science operations. The satellite launched on May 19 and has spent months testing its instruments before switching on its scientific mode.

What Smile Actually Saw

The pictures were taken in ultraviolet light. They show a huge, serpent-like ring of charged particles coiling around the North Pole. Earth itself looks ghostly and featureless, glowing like a half moon in the foreground. The aurora covers about a third of the sunlit side of the planet while Earth’s dark nightside bleeds into the background sky. Far behind, bright stars fall like raindrops as Smile shifts subtly in its orbit.

The view alone is worth smiling about, but the images also confirm that the satellite’s instruments are working as they should. Taken just two weeks after scientists first turned on Smile’s Ultraviolet Aurora Imager, the observations mark the official start of the joint European Space Agency (ESA) and Chinese Academy of Sciences mission.

Why We Can See Auroras in Daylight

Auroras are electrical storms in the atmosphere. Charged solar particles skate along Earth’s magnetic-field lines and collide with light-emitting molecules near the poles. To human eyes, auroras come out only at night and rarely stray from the poles.

But Smile sits about 75,000 miles (121,000 kilometers) over the North Pole — about a third of the way to the moon — in a highly elliptical orbit. From that distance, it can watch the North Pole for a record-breaking 45 hours at a time, offering an unprecedented view of solar activity there.

What Else Is Onboard

Smile carries four science instruments in total. The Ultraviolet Aurora Imager captures the auroras. A second instrument detects X-rays. A third measures magnetic fields. And a fourth detects light ions over Earth.

This week, scientists also tested the spacecraft’s soft X-ray imager by pointing it at the distant supernova remnant Cassiopeia A, located about 11,000 light-years from Earth. The camera is working fine, but the detector is still picking up too much light when aimed at Earth, so it will need more calibration from scientists on the ground.

The Orbit That Makes It Possible

Smile’s orbit takes it far enough from Earth that the sunlit side of the planet stays in view during its long observing windows.

That distance means the satellite sees auroras in a way we cannot from the ground. The ultraviolet images capture the charged particles in a light that human eyes cannot see during daylight.

What Comes Next

The satellite will spend three years watching Earth from its high orbit. Its instruments will continue to study the auroras, the magnetic field, and the particles around our planet.

The X-ray imager will need calibration before it produces reliable data. But the auroral imager has already proven itself.

A New Way to See Our Planet

These images are a reminder that our planet looks very different from space. Auroras are one of Earth’s signature wonders, but we rarely see them in daylight. Smile’s view is a genuine first — auroras over the sunlit North Pole, captured from 75,000 miles away.

The images also show Earth’s dark nightside bleeding into the background sky, a contrast that highlights just how far the satellite has traveled to capture this view.

The Science Behind the Pictures

The auroras are the result of charged particles colliding with atmospheric molecules. Smile’s instruments measure those particles directly, giving scientists a way to study the physics of the auroral process.

The magnetic field measurements complement the auroral images. Together, they paint a picture of how solar activity interacts with Earth’s atmosphere.

What We Already Know About Auroras

Auroras exist on other planets, but they are usually not in bright visible colors like ours. On Earth, the collisions happen near the poles because that is where the magnetic field lines converge.

The images are a gift to anyone who looks at them. They show Earth in a way we have never seen it before, and they remind us that there is still much to discover about our own planet.

The view alone is worth smiling about, but the science to come is the real prize.

1. The satellite launched on May 19.
2. It began science operations this week.
3. The first images were shared on Sept. 30.
4. The X-ray imager needs more calibration.
5. The mission runs for three years.

See the 30 images at Live Science.

auroras · Chinese Academy of Sciences · Earth observation · ESA · Smile satellite · space science