Mars and Its Moons

Saturn and Mars at Opposition

Hubble’s Latest Portraits of Saturn and Mars NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has photographed Saturn, left, and Mars, right, near their closest approaches to Earth in June and July 2018. The planets were photographed near opposition, when the Sun, Earth and an outer planet are...

Saturn Opposition 2018

Hubble Takes Portrait of Opulent Ring World Saturn is by far the solar system’s most photogenic planet, and in this latest Hubble Space Telescope snapshot it is especially so because Saturn’s magnificent ring system is near its maximum tilt toward Earth (which was in 2017)....

Saturn Compass Image

Composite Image of Saturn with Six Moons This composite image, taken by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope on June 6, 2018, shows the ringed planet Saturn with six of its 62 known moons. From left to right, the moons visible in this image are Dione, Enceladus, Tethys, Janus,...

Mars Opposition 2018

Hubble’s Close-up View of Mars Dust Storm NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope photographed Mars on July 18, near its closest approach to Earth since 2003. The planet was observed near opposition, when the Sun, Earth and Mars are lined up, with Earth sitting in between the Sun and...

Mars Compass Image

Annotated Image of Mars with Dust Storm This annotated image of Mars shows features of the Red Planet that are visible even with the global dust storm. NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope photographed Mars on July 18, near its closest approach to Earth since 2003. The planet was...

Mars Oppositions 2016 and 2018

Mars Seen in Clear and Dusty Conditions These side-by-side images of Mars, taken roughly two years apart, show very different views of the same hemisphere of Mars. Both were captured when Mars was near opposition, which occurs about every two years, when Earth’s orbit catches up...

Saturn and Six of Its Moons

This time-lapse animation of Hubble observations shows the rotation of Saturn and six of its moons over roughly 20 hours. In a textbook demonstration of Keplerian motion, the moons closer to the planet orbit more rapidly, while those farther away move more slowly.

Saturn and Six of Its Moons (Annotated)

This annotated time-lapse animation of Hubble observations shows the rotation of Saturn and six of its moons over roughly 20 hours. In a textbook demonstration of Keplerian motion, the moons closer to the planet orbit more rapidly, while those farther away move more slowly. This...

Saturn Zoom

This time-lapse animation of Hubble observations shows the rotation of Saturn and zooms into the planet as it is rotating. As the zoom progresses, the viewer gets a closer look at the atmosphere in motion, including a mysterious hexagonal feature at the north polar cap. The...

Mars and Its Moons (Annotated)

This time-lapse animation of Hubble images shows Mars rotating over 43 minutes. The video begins with the moon Deimos traveling from right to left as it orbits Mars. Then Phobos makes an appearance from the right before disappearing behind the Red Planet’s shadow. The...

Mars at Opposition (2016 and 2018)

This video shows the difference in orientation of Mars between the 2016 and 2018 observations, and it also illustrates the obscuration by the 2018 dust storm. The opening image, taken by the Hubble Space Telescope on May 12, 2016, shows a clear atmosphere. Three-dimensional...