Image of Mars from the Hubble Space Telescope

Observing from above Earth’s atmosphere, the Hubble Space Telescope has achieved results that exceed its designers’ expectations. This image of Mars shows details only seen before from spacecraft orbiting the planet.

The polar cap is carbon dioxide ice, and the spots at center left are giant extinct volcanoes extending up through thin clouds. Similar spectacular images and spectra are allowing astronomers to explore a wide range of objects from nearby planets to the most distant visible galaxies.