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Title
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Other Worlds. Are they inhabited?
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Description
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OTHER WORLDS.
'AUK THEY INHABITED,
ASTRONOMERBAItACCHl TALKS.
DISCUSSESPROBABILITIES.
IF THEY ARE PEOPLED
WHAT THE FOLKSARE LIKE.
AN INTERESTING LECTURE.
Thefollowing Isportion of the mostIn
terestinglectureon Astronomy,whichMr
Bnrrtcchi,the GovernmentAstronomer,
recentlygave before the Literary and
MusicalSocietyat Mordiulloc:—
BASIS OF CONJECTURE.
ASCERTAINED ASTRONOMICAL - FACTS.
Thequestionns to whetherother worlds
than ottroarc inhabitedby humnnbeings
cannotbe answeredby a simpleyes or
no. Not yet can positiveevidence be
adducedon.the subject,for the planets
are so far awayfrom us that our best
telescopescan tell us but little about
them. Theancientscouldform hological
Ideaof the subjectof inhabitationof the
other planets,and.In fact, they thought
theearth'was the centreof the universe,
ami that all the heavensrevolvedround
It. it wasonly with Copernicusthat the
correctiiu'olianlsrnof thesolarsystembe
cameknown.Then,In orderto answerthe
questionas fur ns possible,I will lay be
fore you the facts whichhave beenas
certainedwith accuracy,andwhich bear
en the question. It may he convenient
to refer the motionsof the solarsystem
to our notionsof tho globeon which we
live. It Is well knownthat all the plan
etsrevolvearoundthe sun from west to/
east, in clonedorbits, completing their
circuits In a certain period, which is
accuratelyknownfor eaehplanet. Iri the
caseof our earth,this periodis3(15days. This conditiongives us then the length
of the year of each planet. Wo also
knowUnitour earth spinson Itsownaxis
In 24hours,which periodconstitutesour
duy.- Someof the planetshaveon'their
surface certainmarkings,whichhaveen
abledus,by observation, to determine
that they spin aroundtheir own axis In
a certain dilnlte time, and we have
.thusbecomeacquaintedwith the length
of tho day on theseplanets. Theseare
Mars,Jupiter nnd Saturn. In the case
of the other planetsnamelyMercuryVe
nus,Uranus,and Neptune,wehave no
certain knowledgeof tho lengthof their
day. Anotherconditionwhich wehave
beenableto uncertainon all the planet?
Is tho amountof light and heatwhich
they receivefrom the sun. This Is as
certainedfrom thoknowndistanceof the
planets from the sun. Knowing these
distances,and knowing also the law of
variationof light andheat,wecandeter
mineat oncewhat theeffectsof tholight
and heat from the sun must be on tho
various planetsIn comparisonwith what
they are on the earth. For in
stance, If we were twice as far
from the sun ns we actually
are,wowouldreceivefour limestenslight
and heat. This is an important condi
tion, whichmust governthe life on the
planets. "Weknowwith considerableac
curacy thesizeof the planets and their
weight, and we can thereforeform an
idea of the material of whichthey con
sist.
THE LAW OF GRAVITY.
WHAT IT IS.
Another Important consideration is
'the attractive force exercisedby each
planetuponobjectsonIts surface. Near
the earth'ssurfaceall things tend to fall
to the groundIf not supported. There
Is a mysteriousforce which weighs us
down. ,W« are conscioustlmt wehave
to make an effort to stand onour feet,
anda greatereffort to carry ourselvesup
stairs or to climb a mountain— or a
still greaterefi'oi1to Jumporto raiseour
selveswith our feet off theground.These
phenomenaare socommonthatwe bike
little noticeof them. It Is only with the
phenomenawhichdo w»f occurin dally
life that womarvelat all.' Weknow the
ordinary difficulties,-Imcnusethey are
with us every day, but the others we
know nothingof, nndarc thereforewil
ling to passthem over. Our principal
dtnicully is tlmt of weight,as nettledby
the force of gravity. Nothing Is known
of theorigin andnatureof this force,hut
Gallicsnnd Newtondiscoveredthe laws
by whichIt Isgoverned,andthelatterex
tendedtheselaws to the wholeuniverse.
The great universal law Is that the
attractionbetweentwo bo;k-?Is propor
tional to their inasFvs,andInverselypro
portional to the squaresof the distanc"
whichseparatestlioin.Thus,for a bodyon
thesurfaceof a planet, the forceof attraclion
experiencedby the bodyIs propor
tional to Its mansand the massof the
planet,andInverselyproportional to the
radiusof-the.planeL By meansof these
laws,,andknowing the size of the plan
ets, \vocan at oncedeterminethe inten
sity of fhn forceof attraction. I have
dwelt on'.thldcondition,becauseIt will
be of considerableImpurttinccIn judging
of the conditionsof,life.
HOW THE 'l'LANKTS SPIN.
Anotherhnpurtnnlconditionwhich re
gulatesto a considerabledegreethe me
teorologicaloluiracierof a planetIs the
existenceof on atmosphere. We have
beenenabled to discover that certain
planetsare unmistakablypossessed of an
atmosphere,such ns Mercury, Venus,
Mars,andJupiter. We ure pretty cer
tain that .no atmosphereexists in the
moon. In regardto meteorologicaclon
ditions, another astronomicalphenome
nonmuHt.U; mentioned. Tills Istechnic
ally calledthe Inclinationof the nxls (if
rotation. If you Imaginea lop spinning
very rapidlyon a round, fiat table,mov
ing at the sanie lime roundtho edgeof
Ihe.table— '
Imaginethata sourceof light
Is placedat the centreof the table. If
the top spinsexactly upright,you have
the way that the planetJnplh'rspins,but
If the top spinsin an Inclinedway, you
havea. modelof tho enrthnndof Mors.
In theselast two bodiesthe angleof In
clination Is 23degreesfor the earthand
nearly25,degreesfor .Mars. Thovaria tion of seasonsIs dueto (heirInclina
tion. in Jupiter, therefore,thereIs no
22!2l,0£
0t "6aRonsPerpetualspring reigns there, if this inclination were muchgreaterthan it is onour earth tho
seasonswouldbe far moreIntensethan
tnoy irC; the summermuch,hotter, the wlntedmuch colder. Unfortunately. \vc
H bccn t0 'ascertainthe inclinationof
the axis of Mercury nnd venue,andthetwo furthest planetsUra nus andNeptune. But weknowit with
considerableaccuracyhi regardto the
other planets.
THE PLANET- MERCURY.
Ro arc nowIn apositionto considerthe
conditionswhichgovernlife in eachof the
planetsof the solar system. We will
commencewith tho planetnearestto the
sun,andproceedIn orderof distance.
Mercury.—MercuryIs seenalwaysIn
the neighborhood of thesun shortlyafter
sunset,or after sunrise. Ouropportuni
tiesnre few for seeingIt, becauseIt Is
for tlio most part always immersedin
the solar light It appearsto tho naked
eye on someoccasionsns a star of the
first magnitude,througha powerfultele
scope,It showsas a disc goingthrough the samephasesof the moon. Markings
are sometimesseenon its surface,sug
gestingthe existenceof Immensemoun
tains. nndseemsto be surroundedby an
atmosphere. This small world has
a diameter of ahotit 3000miles, so
that It wouldlake 20Vjfthem,rolledInto
one,to makeup a globeas large as our
earth. Thematerialof whichit consists
is such that It would weighabout four
timesnsmuchnsan equalglobeof water,
it Is of the sameweight,approximately,
is the weightof magneticore. it Is
foundthat the forceof gravity at Its sur
face Is only about one-thirdof that of
the earth,that Is, an object weighing3
pounlH, If carlredto Mercury,wouldweigh
only 1 pound. Mercurycompletes Its
courseroundtho sun In 80days,so that
the lengthof Its yearis aboutequivalent
to onoof our seusons, Wo know that
Its distancefrom the sun Is aboutthree
tlmeti lessthan our distance,andIt fol
lows that Mercury receivesfrom the eun
nine(lines morelight nnd heat than we
do. We knowalsothat at onetimeof its
yearIt receivesa great dealmorethanat
another,on accountof the varintlon of
its distancefrom the sun. So that it
hits iit least two markedseasons—one
hot and the other comparatively' cold.
Thesefacts,being accuratelyknown,can
be usedas a basis for forming an Idea
as to whatkind of peopletheMercurluns
inuHtbo.
THE SALAMANDER MERCURIANS.
WOULD FREEZE IN CENTRAL
AUSTRALIA.
Let us imagine a Alcrcurlan, for
the fun of the thing. A personwho
hadseenforty summersIn hisown plan
et,nnd hadattainedIn his middleagea
weightof ii stone, supposetins person
came to pay u»a visit, wowould find
him a strangecreatureindeed. Hewould
be a merelad of ten, accordingto our
reckoning,nnd If we weighedhim this
lud nf ten wouldJust turn the wale at
between30and forty atone. Ills eyes,
accustomedto thedazzfingllghtnf hlsown
planet,wouldfind the earthalmostdark,
andfull daylight wouldappearto hlin not
much brighter than a moonlight night.
Ho .would bo unable to bear
our temperature, nnd If they were
to- take him to the centre of Aus
tralia, ononeof the hottestof our Janu
ary days,hewouldvery probablybe fro
zen to death. In the ordinary tempera
ture of his own planethe wouldhave to
bearonly a heatequivalentto that which
wc wouldexperienceIn thecentreof Aus
tralia In themiddleof January,with eight
or ninesuns shiningdown upon iw In
stead of one.
A MERCURIAN—AS COMPARED
WITH AN INHABITANT OF THE
EARTH.
VENUS, DESCRIBED,
HER PEOPLE MUST LIKE HEAT.
Venus.—ThereIs noreason to suppose,
tlmtthlswostheStarof Bethlehem. Venus,
after thesun andmoon,Is the mostmag
nificentobject In thesky. It isso bright
thnt:wecan sometimessec Hhadowsof
objectscastby Its light. Ifmnor called
It Cnlllstosthe beautiful. Beingsome
timesn morning,andsometimesaneven
ing star,theancientsbelievedthe two to
he different. It shows phaseslike the
muon.Beenthrougha telescope,It ap
pearsnsa dazzlingwhitedisc, showingcur
tain darkish markings herennd there,
but so extremelyfaint undevanescent,
that It Is difficult to grasptheir form. It
Is this uncertainty thnt prevented the
accuratedeterminationof ' tho plunet's
rotationroundIts nxls.
Venusis 67millions of milesfrom tho
sun, so that it receivestwiceas much
light nndheat from the sunaswedo.It
isnearlythesameslxeastheearth.Bornewhat
lighter than our material, andtho
force of gravity 87hundredthsof that of
the earth. It is envelopedin a very'
denseatmosphere,nnd it's year consists,
of 225terrestrial days. Venus,like Mer
cury, hnanosatellite. Thisplanetwould
be,undoubtedlys,uitabletosupportbeings'
not verydifferent to ourselves,but with
constitution such as would have to
standa climatetwiceashot as ours.
STYLE OF HAT,
ProbablyWornby u Native of Venus.
HereIs an example. Their socialcon
dition would very probablybovery dif
ferentfrom ours. Thus,if civil servants
of Venuswereto retireby law,after they'
hudlived through0-7thsof their natural
lives,theywouldbeallowedtoslay in the
civil serviceuntil they were0f5yearsof;
age,tlmt beingtheequivalenttoCOyears
onthe earth.
The two planetswhichwehavehofar
discussedcirculatetiroundthe sun,with
in our orbit, andare probablyyounger
thanour earth. They are the twa last
born childrenof the sun, but it Is also
probable thnt they have attained a
4tngefor maturity as far, or further,ad
vancedthanour planet. At somefuture
timeastronomermsayheableto accurate
ly determinethe periodof rotationnndIn
clinationof the axis of these planets,
whichwouldgive usmuchadditional in
formationupon the questionof their
habltablllty.
MARS, THE LAND OF GIGANTIC
ENGINEERING.
Mars.—Mars gives terrestrial as-
.tronornorsa bettor opportunity' of seeing
Its surfucethananyof theotherheavenly
bodies,exceptthe moon, nnd, consequently,
we know moreabout It than
weknow aboutthe other planets. Seen
by the nakedeye,it presentsa bright,
ruddyllame—like light,at times—brighter
than ut uthorH. It shinesto the naked
eyeas a star of the first magnitude,con
sequently,nothingwasknownof Its sur
facebefuretheInventionof the telescope,
and,Indeed,verynearlynil our knowledge
of the physicalconstitutionof this planet
hasbeenobtainedIn our century,andthe
greaterpart duringthe last25years. In
a good telescopeIt appearsns il welldefineddisc,
and.seenwith the highest
practicablemagnifying power,has,ap
parently,the size,us wellas thecolor, of
a modcrntesizedorange. It might be
thoughtthat If wewerecarriedaway In
space,andsawthrougha telescope,our
world becomingsmallernnd smaller to
our view, until it reachedsuchu distance
ns to appearof thesizeof unorange, it
might bepresumptionto attemptto draw
the outlineor the seas and continents,
andevenlakesanddesertstuid moremin
ute detailsorits surface,yet that Is what
has beencloneby u«ti«»noinebrsy careful
telescopicstudy of Mars. A ruperllclal
examinationshowsdarkmarkingsIrregu
larly distributedandof dlfTereiitsizeand
outline. Thv.seare supposedto lie the
seasand lakes. The rest consists of
light orange-tinted patches,which tire
HUpposcdto bethe continents. Ona
closerstudy andhigheropticalpower,we
see much moreami moreminute detail.
Sometimesthe polarregionsof thisplan
et appearas dazzlingwhiteareas,giving
a BtrongImpressionthat theynre covered
with snowor ice.ProfessorSchinpparelli
discovered,amongmunyother markings,
ccrtuln straight fines reticulating.the
greater partof lb" surfaceof Murs. To
thesehegavethe nameof canals. Liter
he saw someof Ibenestraight linentut
dosedoubleparallellines. Youwill note
that theserumtlscrossIheoceansnndInlerseeteachother,
nndrun from sea to
sen,nnfikeuny terrestrial notionof can
als, andthe suppositionbus beenmade
that they maybe artificial works,made
for the purposeof Irrigation,for distri
butingthe water of the polarseas over
theIntnl. If suchb»thecase,theseworks
wouldbeof giganticmagnitude,of which
wc have noparallelonour enrth. Mars
revolvesaround the sun at a distance
varying from 128to 151millionsof miles,
in nn orlbtwhichIt takesCS7daysto des-
Hcrlbe. Its yearIs, therefore, morethan
10munthxlonger thanours. Its dia
meter is 4200miles, so thnt IUs area
Is little more than one-fourth that
of theearth. It Is a miniature earth
receiving,comparedwith the enrth, less
j than half, or about13per centof light
! andheatfrom thesun. It rotatesaround
I its axis in a little over21hours,andoon-
; uoquentlyIts day Is almostthesame as
j ours. This rotationaxis is Inclined to
the plune of Usorbit hy nearly 25 de-
! grees,andMars lias thereforea varia
tion of seasonsimilar to ours,wltlf tltc
differencethat theyare almosttwice ns
long. Thus,the Martiansummer lasts
six months,winter aboutfive months,
spring six anda half months, nnd nutumn
nearlyfive months. Mnrsis made
uf a mutcrlalof aboutthe samedensity
andweightasemery,or aboutfour times
tho weight of an equalglobe of water.
Theforceof gravityat UssurfneeIsabout
three times weaker than that on the
earth's surface. Let us now, on tho
.strength of theseknown facts, consider
what would hethe generalcharacteris
tics of the Martians.
BIG-EYED MARTIANS,
REVEL IN POLAR ICINESS.
We have seenthat this planet Is four
timessmallerIhnnour world;It pokschhoh
ii solid-crust; Is surroundedhy atmo
sphere,nnd Is probablyolder than wo
are,anuin u moreadvancedstate or its
career.'GwingtoIts greaterdistancefrom
the sun tho Intensityof solar fight nnd
heatIs somewhatlessthan half of that
whleh wc enjoy, consequently Its
Inhabitants probably have much
larger eyes than the terrestrial ;
must he so constituted as to
stand whntwouldappearto us nn Intolably
severepolar climate. Tho force of
gravity beingthree times weaker than
that on enrth, Martians.If the physical
strengthbe the pamens ours, mustfeel
very much fighter and freer In their
movementsfo, r a terrestrialman15stone
in weight. If suddenlycarried to Mnrs,
would find his weight only 5 stone,
and he could lift weights three times
heavier,andcouldhit a cricket ballthree
timesfurther thananychampionAustra
lian. Hecouldclimbthehlghestmountalns
with little effort, andcoulddo as much
hard manuallabor in two.hoursas our
strongestmancan do In eight. Hence
the possibilityof accomplishing engineer
ing worksIn Mars ona scalevastlylarg
er thanwecouldundertakeonthis world
of ours.
25 TERRESTRIAL YEARS
ONEARTJI. "ONMARS.
TheMartiansdonot fivejust ns wedo,
for If wetaketwoladles,onebornin our
world andthe otherbornin Marson the
sameday,wewouldfind Unitby thetime
the terrestriallady has reachedher 35111
years the Martianlady wouldlie still In
her teenH.nndIf we terrestrials after
reachingour allotted spanof three r.core
yearsundten.couldtransmigrateInto our
neighboringplanetMars,we would fin I
ourselvesbroughtbackto the zenith of
our.fife uH,uiiddle-ugemden. MursIs In
deeda miniatureenrth,undpossesses all
the conditionsnecessaryfur the support
of life suchaswc know it to he,or at
least not Inconceivablydifferent from
ours, nndalthough nut yet evidenceis
availableas to theexistenceof intelligent
beingsIn-Mars,weureutmostirresistibly
ledto believethat theydoexisL
A MARTIAN.
THE GIANT JUPITER.
In regardto the other planetHof the
solar system, although much, indeed,
might besaidof their physicalconditions
on factsaccurately- ascertainedyet In regard
to habltablllty v enter in the field
of wild conjecture.The giant planet
Jupiter,whichIsso greutthat everyother
memberof the solar,systemcouldberol
led Into It, Isat a distanceof 433millions
of milesfrom thesun. It revolvesaround
the sunIn nearly12of our years,therefore
the yearof Jupiter Isnearlytwelvetimes
longerthanours, yet It spinsaroundUs
axis morethan twin? as quickly as
our world,making thedurationof Its day
lessthan tenhours.
Wo seeat oncethat thesetwo simple
conditionsare vastly different from
thoseof our world and of tho other
planetshitherto consideredJ;upiter,ween
through a large telescope,showsthose
peculiar markingscharacteristicof this
planet,generally called tho belts. Al
thoughJupiter is probablymuch older
than the earth, It has not yet reached
thesamephaseof development,and Is
stilt In its youth. It 1msnot probably
cooleddown andcondensed ns yet to the
same extent ns the other planetscon
sidered.Wccannotreally soeIts surface,
becauseit Is envelopedIn a veryexten
siveatmosphere.It Is not unlikely that
below this atmospheretheremny'he'a
surfaceIn aseml-llquldstate. Themark
ings wesecare causedhy greatatmos
pheric currents, eompnrabloto our
trade winds, but far stronger.Therela
tive velocity of thesecurrents being,In
fnct, five or six times strongerthan the
strongesthurricanesknownto us. Jup
iter Is very little hoavlbrthan nn equal
globeof water. Its distancefrom thosun
Ismorethanfive timesgreaterthanthat
which separatesus from our luminary',
and consequentlythe Intensity of Its
light and heat,Is 27times weakerthan
that which we receive. If It depended
entirely on the sun, Its temperature
would neverrise abovefreezingpoint;
but It maypossessInterna! boat suffi
cient to partly compensatefo' r this de
ficiencyof solacbeat.'
Owingto its great
size, the forceot gravity at Its surface
Is morethan twice that upon our earth.
Onepoundweightherewill weigh more
than twice In Jupiter;andIf theJovlans
were of the samesize and build aswe
are, they would bedoublethe weight,
and would experiencevery great diffi
culty in movingabout.
THE ' JOVIAN PEOPLES.
MINUTE. BUT BUSTLING.
What a stronce'llfethe Jovianpeople.
If there nre any,mustfive. All the dally
routine must bedono In lessthan ten
hours, only five hoursof daylight, nnd
five hoursof night. Theymust belively
creatures,living at a fast rate, always
in action,always doingsomething.Sup
posingthat an ordinary man tookhnlfon-
hour to bathennddress,hnif-pn-hour
for brenkfast,alsolunch anddinner,and
only five hoursfor sleep,he wouldonly
havethreehoursa day left to him to do
all his work, he wouldhardly havetime
for recreation,and what digestivepow
ers hemust have,to eat three or four
mealsa day In five hours. Yet theydo
not grow old,for theyarc still babiesby
the time we have reachedmlddlo age.
In fact, In a century the Jovianarrives
only at the ogeof SA years. But it Is
Impossiblefor us to consider formsof
life capableof existing undertbe condi
tions of this strange, planet. They
wouldhavenosolid groundto tread up
on, andwouldhave to bear thecrushing
weight of an atmospheremany times
heavier than ours, and withstand a
erpetuuJ hurricane. Living organisms
JOVIANSIN A HURRICANE.
In Jupiter are probably vers minute.
For the remainingthree planetsthocon
jectures tutto their habltablllty would
be evenwilder than those 1 have al
readyattempted,andI shall,therefore,
passthemby without csmylngto pictureto
you the kind of people,if any, who
inhabit thoseplanets.
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Date Issued
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1899-10-06
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Creator
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[Pietro Paolo Giovanni Ernesto] Baracchi
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Publisher
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The Herald
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Location State Territory
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Victoria
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Location Town City
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Melbourne
