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Hubble’s Visual History of Mars
The orbits of the planets Earth and Mars provide a geometric line up that is out of this world! Every 26 months Mars is opposite the Sun in our nighttime sky. Since the repair of the Hubble telescope in 1993, Mars has been at such an "opposition" with the Sun six times. A color composite from each of the six Hubble opposition observations has been assembled in this mosaic to showcase the beauty and splendor that is "The Red Planet."
This mosaic of all six globes of Mars shows relative variations in the apparent angular size of Mars over the years. Mars was the closest in 2003 when it came within 35 million miles (56 million km) of Earth. The part of Mars that is tilted towards the Earth also shifts over time, resulting in the changing visibility of the polar caps. Clouds and dust storms as well as the size of the ice caps can change the appearance of Mars on time scales of days, weeks, and months. Other features of Mars, though, such as some of the large dark markings, have remained unchanged for centuries, and will probably look essentially like this for the next few millennia.
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 Earth] At the 2005 closest approach, Mars was 43 million miles (69 million kilometers) from Earth. At the 2005 opposition event, Mars was 43.7 million miles (70.3 million kilometers) from Earth.
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.The 2005 image was created from HST proposal 10770: K. Noll (The Hubble Heritage Team, STScI), J. Bell (Cornell Univ.), M. Wolff (Space Science Inst.), H. Bond, C. Christian, L. Frattare, F. Hamilton, W. Januszewski, Z. Levay, M. Mutchler, and T. Royle (The Hubble Heritage Team, STScI). - InstrumentInstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.HST>WFPC2
- 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 DateNovember 3, 2005
- Science ReleaseMars Kicks Up the Dust as it Makes Closest Approach to Earth
- CreditsNASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA); Acknowledgment: J. Bell (Cornell University) and M. Wolff (Space Science Institute)
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Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
