Photo Agency - Astronomy - Space - Nature

> Mars seen by the Hubble space telescope from 1995 to 2005.

Mars seen by the Hubble space telescope from 1995 to 2005.

author: Nasa/ESA/Hubble heritage team/Novapix

reference: a-mar02-00025

Image Size 300 DPI: 25 * 20 cm

Every 26 months Mars is opposite the Sun in our nighttime sky. A color composite from each of the six Hubble opposition observations has been assembled in this mosaic. This mosaic 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.

Keywords for this photo:

1995 - 1997 - 1999 - 2001 - 2003 - 2005 - ACT010210 - ANGULAR SIZE - ASTRONOMY - GLOBAL VIEW - HST - HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE - MARS - OPPOSITION - PLANET -