Hubble Mars Photo Shows the Red Planet in Stunning Detail
The photo was taken when Mars was 50 million miles from Earth.
— -- As Mars makes a close approach to Earth this month, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope took the opportunity to snap a new portrait of the Red Planet in all of its glory.
The image, which was taken in natural color, shows details of Mars' surface as small as 20 miles across. The Martian portrait was taken on May 12 when the Red Planet was just 50 million miles from Earth, according to NASA.
It was taken just before the Martian opposition on May 22, when the Red Planet and the sun will be on exact opposite sides of the Earth. On May 30, Mars will be the closest it has been to Earth in 11 years, coming within 46.8 million miles.
The planetary spectacle will also create perfect conditions for getting a more detailed look at Mars since the Red Planet will be fully illuminated by the sun as viewed on Earth.
Every two years, Earth catches up to Mars’ orbit and aligns with the planet and the sun in a straight line. While Earth takes 365 days to orbit the sun, Mars takes 687 Earth days. As a result, the opposition occurs about every 26 months.
