European and Chinese teams have released ultraviolet images from the SMILE spacecraft that show the northern lights as a full auroral oval circling the North Pole, with the first footage described as an auroral substorm.
The European Space Agency said SMILE’s ultraviolet imager recorded the sequence on 24 July 2026, and mission teams published the first scientific observations on 30 September 2026 showing a clear, moving auroral feature around the polar cap, according to ESA and news coverage.
SMILE (Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer) was designed to image auroral emissions in ultraviolet while the spacecraft also measures soft X-rays to map Earth’s magnetosphere, the agencies said. The mission’s high, highly elliptical orbit gives SMILE a vantage point above the pole that lets it watch the auroral oval for long continuous stretches.
News reporting and mission briefings note SMILE can observe the northern lights for up to about 45 hours in a single pass and that its orbit reaches roughly 121,000 kilometres above the North Pole — positions chosen so the ultraviolet imager can capture the full ring of aurora in daylight as well as darkness.
Scientists say that viewing the auroral oval from SMILE’s vantage offers a global view of how solar wind energy couples into Earth’s magnetic shield, letting researchers track how auroral activity expands and moves during substorms. ESA described the 24 July footage as the mission’s first ultraviolet view showing an auroral substorm.
Why this matters: the northern lights are a visible symptom of space weather processes that can disrupt satellites, power grids and radio communications. SMILE’s simultaneous ultraviolet imaging and X-ray measurements are intended to link the auroral displays seen from above with conditions in the solar wind and the magnetosphere, helping scientists improve space weather models.
Precedent and context: mission briefings noted that SMILE will be the first spacecraft since 2008 to capture the full ring of northern lights around the North Pole in ultraviolet, filling an observational gap and giving a continuous, wide-angle view previously unavailable from lower or equatorial orbits.
Sources
- European Space Agency — described the ultraviolet imager results, said the footage was taken on 24 July 2026 and that it shows an auroral substorm.
- Purdue Exponent — reported that European and Chinese teams released the first SMILE observations showing an auroral substorm on 30 September 2026.
- ScienceTimes — reported SMILE’s orbit and mission capability to observe the auroral oval for up to 45 hours per pass and reach about 121,000 kilometres above the North Pole.
