These color and black and white pictures of Mars were taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope just two weeks after Earth made its closest approach to the Red Planet during the 1997 opposition. The right image, in blue light only, brings out details in the cloud structure and is remarkably similar to weather satellite pictures taken of Earth. This series of pictures captures the seasonal retreat of Mars' north polar cap. In The Martian North Polar Ice Cap These views from above the pole were assembled from mosaics of three sets of images andprojected to appear as if from above.
Surface features visible include craters, water ice clouds, and volcanoes.