Hubble telescope captures stunning new photo of Mars

On May 30, the planet Mars will be the closest it has been to Earth in 11 years, at a cosmically small distance of only 46.8 million miles.

The sun and Mars will be on the exact opposite sides of Earth a week earlier, on May 22, with the opposition of the planet causing it to be fully illuminated from our perspective.

To celebrate these celestial events, NASA has snapped a brand new photo of the red planet with the Hubble Space Telescope.

The image reveals details as small as 20 to 30 miles across.

It clearly shows sublime blue areas of clouds, and the vast red terrain of Arabia Terra at the centre of the image.

Darker areas indicate sand grains created from ancient lava flows.

The portrait shows Mars as a dynamic and strongly seasonal planet.

The changing of the seasons is particularly stark at the planet's northern polar ice cap, which has retreated rapidly as a result of the Martian summer.

The ice should be back in force by the time of Mars' winter.