Technical facts about this news release: About the Object Object Name: Mars Object Description: Closest Approach 2003 Distance from the Sun: The semi-major axis of Mars' orbit about the sun is 1.52 Astronomical Units (A.U.) or 142 million miles (228 million km). Distance from the Earth: At the 2003 closest approach, Mars was approximately 35 million miles (56 million kilometers) from Earth. Dimensions: The planet has a diameter of 4,222 miles (6,794 kilometers) at the equator. About the Data Data Description: These data are taken from HST proposal 10065 by J. Bell (Cornell U.), M. Wolff (Space Science Institute), A. Lubenow (STScI), and K. Noll (STScI). Additional image processing and analysis support from: K. Noll and A. Lubenow (STScI); M. Hubbard (Cornell U.); R. Morris (NASA/JSC); P. James (U. Toledo); S. Lee (U. Colorado); and T. Clancy, B. Whitney and G. Videen (SSI); and Y. Shkuratov (Kharkov U.). Instrument: HST/WFPC2 Exposure Dates/Filters: Image 1: August 26, 2003 22:21:52 - 23:12:18 Universal Time; F410M ("B"), F502N ("V"), F631N ("R") Image 2: August 27, 2003 09:35:28 - 10:22:54 Universal Time; F410M (B), F502N (V), F673N (R) About the Image Image Credit: NASA, J. Bell (Cornell U.), and M. Wolff (SSI) Release Date: Image 1: August 27, 2003 6:00AM (EDT) Image 2: August 27, 2003 4:00PM (EDT)
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*Image Type:*: Astronomical
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*Release Date*:August 27, 2003 06:00 AM (EDT)
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*Title*:Mars: Closest Encounter
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*Additional image processing and analysis support from:*: K. Noll and A. Lubenow (STScI [ http://www.stsci.ed…]); M. Hubbard (Cornell U.); R. Morris (NASA [ http://www.nasa.gov/]/JSC); P. James (U. Toledo); S. Lee (U. Colorado); and T. Clancy, B. Whitney and G. Videen (SSI); and Y. Shkuratov (Kharkov U.)
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*News Release Number:*: STScI-2003-22d
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*Description*: This view of Mars from the Hubble Space Telescope's new Advanced Camera for Surveys provides the sharpest view of the red planet attainable by the Earth-oribiting observatory. The picture was taken August 24, when Mars was approximately 34.7 million miles from Earth. The central linear feature running from left to right is Valles Marineris, a 2,480-mile (4,000-km) system of canyons. Sunlight illuminates one wall of the canyon, creating a striking white linear feature. To the bottom left lies Solis Lacus (Lake of the Sun) At far left is the great Tharsis plateau. A chain of three dormant volcanoes can barely be seen along the left limb. At far right, the great dusty desert Arabia Terra is pockmarked with ancient impact craters. The bright desert in the center of the image is Xanthe Terra. The upper left corner of this desert is the site where the NASA Viking 1 spacecraft landed on Mars in 1976. Because of Mars's tilt, the icy north polar cap cannot be seen. It is just over the top limb. Each pixel (picture element) in this black-and-white image is only 3.5 miles (6 km) across.
