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Hubble’s Sharpest View of Mars — August 24, 2003
This view of Mars from the Hubble Space Telescope's new Advanced Camera for Surveys provides the sharpest view of the red planet attainable by the Earth-oribiting observatory. The picture was taken August 24, when Mars was approximately 34.7 million miles from Earth.
The central linear feature running from left to right is Valles Marineris, a 2,480-mile (4,000-km) system of canyons. Sunlight illuminates one wall of the canyon, creating a striking white linear feature. To the bottom left lies Solis Lacus (Lake of the Sun) At far left is the great Tharsis plateau. A chain of three dormant volcanoes can barely be seen along the left limb.
At far right, the great dusty desert Arabia Terra is pockmarked with ancient impact craters. The bright desert in the center of the image is Xanthe Terra. The upper left corner of this desert is the site where the NASA Viking 1 spacecraft landed on Mars in 1976. Because of Mars's tilt, the icy north polar cap cannot be seen. It is just over the top limb.
Each pixel (picture element) in this black-and-white image is only 3.5 miles (6 km) across.
About the Object
- DistanceDistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.Distance from the Sun: The semi-major axis of Mars' orbit about the sun is 1.52 Astronomical Units (A.U.) or 142 million miles (228 million km); Distance from the Earth: At the 2003 closest approach, Mars was approximately 35 million miles (56 million kilometers) from Earth.
- DimensionsDimensionsThe physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky.The planet has a diameter of 4,222 miles (6,794 kilometers) at the equator.
About the Data
- Data DescriptionData DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.These data are taken from HST proposal 10065 by J. Bell (Cornell U.), M. Wolff (Space Science Institute), A. Lubenow (STScI), and K. Noll (STScI). Additional image processing and analysis support from: K. Noll and A. Lubenow (STScI); M. Hubbard (Cornell U.); R. Morris (NASA/JSC); P. James (U. Toledo); S. Lee (U. Colorado); and T. Clancy, B. Whitney and G. Videen (SSI); and Y. Shkuratov (Kharkov U.). - InstrumentInstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.HST>ACS/HRC
- Exposure DatesExposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.August 24, 2003
- Object NameObject NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.Mars
- Object DescriptionObject DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.Planet
- Release DateAugust 27, 2003
- Science ReleaseMars: Closest Encounter
- CreditsNASA, J. Bell (Cornell U.) and M. Wolff (SSI); Additional image processing and analysis support from: K. Noll and A. Lubenow (STScI); M. Hubbard (Cornell U.); R. Morris (NASA/JSC); P. James (U. Toledo); S. Lee (U. Colorado); and T. Clancy, B. Whitney and G. Videen (SSI); and Y. Shkuratov (Kharkov U.)
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Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
