← Azimuth Daily
Capturing data…
Capturing data…
MON, 5 OCT · 80 ITEMS
"First photos from Smile spacecraft show Earth like you've never seen it before" — Live Science · Science & Medicine
The (Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer), a joint European-Chinese mission, has released its first ultraviolet images of Earth. The photos capture the full around the North Pole in broad daylight, offering a view of auroras that hasn't been seen since the IMAGE mission in 2008. This marks the start of Smile's science operations, imaging Earth's magnetosphere and auroral activity in UV light.
The claim is based on a Live Science article that reports on the image release. The primary sources are likely the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), which jointly operate Smile. Multiple outlets (IFLScience, ESA's own site) confirm the release, so the reporting is solid, though it is secondary coverage without direct citation of the original press release.
Genuinely new: the images and the article were published on October 4, 2026.