Taken by the HST on June 26 2001.Image: NASA & The Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) The orbiting Hubble Space Telescope (HST) took advantage of Mars's recent close approach to the Earth to obtain a detailed image of the planet. On June 26 Mars was 68 million km from the Earth, closer than it had been since 1988. On that date it reached opposition when it was directly in line with the Earth, opposite the Sun.

HST reveals white clouds of water ice and orange dust storms above Mars's rusty surface. One large storm is swirling above the northern polar cap at the top of the image and a smaller storm cloud is nearby. In the southern hemisphere, another storm cloud is centred on the giant Hellas basin – itself caused by a giant impact early in Martian history.

The colours are balanced to closely match those seen through a telescope.

The images obtained by HST are far sharper than any obtained from the ground as they are unaffected by the Earth's atmosphere. NASA astronomers may use them to study Martian surface conditions in preparation for the arrival of lander missions in 2004.

From the United Kingdom, Mars will be best viewed at its next oppositions in 2003 (when it will be just 56 million km distant) and 2005.