Hubble’s Closest View of Mars in 60,000 Years: August 27, 2003

This portrait of Mars was taken on August 27, 2003, within minutes of the planet's closest approach to Earth in nearly 60,000 years. In this picture, the Red Planet is 34,647,420 miles (55,757,930 km) from Earth. This sharp, natural-color view of Mars reveals several prominent Martian features. The image was taken during the middle of summer in the planet's southern hemisphere. During this season the Sun shines continuously on the southern polar ice cap, causing the cap to shrink in size (bottom of image). The orange streaks are indications of dust activity over the polar cap. By contrast, the northern hemisphere was in the midst of winter. A wave of clouds covers the northern polar ice cap and the surrounding region (top of image). Mars and Earth make a "close encounter" about every 26 months, but due to differences in the two planets' elliptical orbits, Mars will not be this close again until 2287.