Sharpest, best ever image of Mars taken by Hubble Space Telescope's HST Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 WFPC2 on June 26, 2001, when Mars was approximately 43 million miles from Earth - the closest Mars has been to Earth since 1988. Details are visible as small as 10 miles across. Colors have been balanced to give a realistic view of Mars' hues as they might appear through a telescope. A large amount of seasonal dust storm activity is also visible in the image. One large storm system churns high above the northern polar cap top of image while a smaller dust storm cloud is seen nearby. Yet another large dust storm spills out of the giant Hellas impact basin in the Southern Hemisphere lower right. .
