The Hubble Space Telescope just captured this new image of Mars
in May 2016 as Earth and Mars approached opposition, when both
planets are on the same side of the Sun. The weeks surrounding
Mars opposition are a great opportunity to look at Mars in
the night sky. The Hubble Space Telescope may not be the first
thing you think of when you look at Mars. Hubble is more
well-known for its picturesque views of nebulae and galaxies
outside our solar system, but it’s also quite useful for
studying our own planets. The Hubble Space Telescope has
observed plumes of water vapor from Jupiter’s moon Europa,
discovered four of the five moons orbiting Pluto, and has
discovered numerous icy Kuiper Belt Objects in the far reaches
of our solar system. Additionally, the telescope has
a program to observe the atmospheres of our four gas
giants - Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Plus,
Hubble not only studies our own planets, it also collects data
from planets orbiting other stars. Exoplanets! So the next
time you go out and look at the night sky, just remember,
Hubble’s got you covered for the solar system and beyond.