The latest photo released by NASA from the Hubble Space Telescope is the clearest that we've seen of Mars yet. The Hubble Space Telescope News Page offers a close-up shot of the red planet, complete with details on cloud formations, visible mountains and volcanoes, and even smaller erosion channels.
They were said to capture the image using their Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) during the time Mars came into opposition. This is when the Earth, the Sun and Mars lined up. They observed that this is the nearest we've seen of Mars in over ten years.
According to Space.com, this photo shows Mars when it was 80 million kilometres away from Earth. During opposition, it will be the closest the planet has ever been to Earth, which will let Mars appear larger and brighter in the sky.
Normal astronomers using telescopes may be able to observe the red planet with more details on ice caps, craters, canyons, seas and mountains while this event is approaching.
The Martian landscape is naturally coloured in the photo- the brownish-red rusty colouring is due to its atmosphere, which is composed of very fine dust that contains huge amounts of iron and oxygen.
The detail on this photo, however, wouldn't be possible without the technology we have today, The Independent notes. It is difficult to find the right timing for getting the planet so well-illuminated for a shot. We still have two decades before NASA starts planning to send humans to Mars, and until then, we would need every single detail on this planet that we can get.
Ever since the Hubble launched back in April 1990, it has assisted NASA with huge discoveries and breakthroughs in the realm of outer space. Space.com also mentions that NASA officials claim the Hubble's technology should keep it fully operational until at least 2020, provided that no accidents may occur.
