Hubble captures Mars and Saturn while they pass near the Earth

The Hubble Space Telescope had a difficult start in the early 1990s, but he has always been a real soldier. After more than 25 years, he still captures beautiful photos of distant astronomical objects and advances human knowledge. He can also take a look at the objects of our own solar system. Saturn and Mars have come closer to Earth recently, and Hubble has got new images.

Saturn was in opposition to the Earth on June 27, and Mars is sliding this way now. When a planet is in opposition to the Earth, it means that the planet, the Earth and the Sun are aligned. Meanwhile, the planet is as close as possible to the Earth, and it is fully illuminated by the sun from our point of view. Hubble is designed to look much farther objects that are much brighter than planets, so the opposition is the best time to get images of planets with Hubble.

This composite image taken by NASA / ESA's Hubble Space Telescope. June 2018, shows the planet surrounded by Saturn with six of its 62 known moons. From left to right, the visible moons on this image are Dione, Enceladus, Tethys, Janus, Epimetheus and Mimas

In the new Saturn image, Hubble has managed to spot six of the 62 known moons of the planet: Dione, Enceladus , Tethys, Janus, Epimetheus and Mimas. Astronomers captured the image on June 6, a few weeks before the planet was in full opposition. It was still only 870 million miles (1.4 billion kilometers) from the Earth, which is a stone's throw away for Saturn. Saturn was close to its maximum inclination towards the Earth, so that the rings are in full screen. You can even see the structure of the hexagonal clouds around the north pole of Saturn.

Hubble turned to Mars on July 18, so still a few weeks before the opposition. However, the planet was still close enough for some excellent Hubble shots. It's also an exciting time to take a look at Mars. The planet is currently experiencing a global dust storm that has obscured some of the details. However, this provides an opportunity to study the dust storms of Mars, which are still poorly understood.

Mid-July, NASA / ESA's Hubble Space Telescope observed Mars, only 13 days before approaching the Earth in 2018 While previous images exhibited detailed surface features of the planet, this new image is dominated by a gigantic sandstorm that envelops the entire planet.

Hubble spotted both the moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos. picture. There are visible clouds over the south pole, and the northern polar cap is as clear as the day. The vast rust-colored mist covering most of the planet is the dust storm, but there are some notable features still visible. The Schiaparelli Crater, Hellas Basin and Terra Meridiani are all visible near the middle of Mars.

You can expect many more pictures of Mars when arriving at the opposition on July 31st.