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Title
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The Planet of Romance
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Description
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Port Fairy Gazette (Vic. : 1890 - 1922), Friday 1 September 1899, page 4
I TIE PLANET OF llOIIANCE.
DIARS — HER MOONS AND HER CANALS. AND WHAT THE ASTRONOMERS SAY ABOUT THEM.
Mars may well be termed the planet of romance, says Miss Mary Proctor, in the June St. Nicholas, since more romances have been told concerning it
than about any other planet in the solar system. In ancient times it was selected as the planet of war on account of its ruddy light, its symbol being the spear and shield of the old Assyrian warriors. But the evil qualities attributed to the ruddy hue of Mars by people believing in planetary influences have long ago been consigned to the realms of romance, and Mars is no
longer held accountable for the wars and disasters that take place on planet Earth. Seen through a flue telescope, Mars presents the appearance of a miniature earth, floating over-head, the ruddy markings indicating land, the greenish markings outlining seas and watercourses, while white caps adorn the regions corresponding to the Polar regions on earth. The astronomer, in the quiet and ease of his observatory, can make a study of these regious, which may not as yet have ever been seen by the inhabitants of Mars, because of the dangers which prevent access to them. We may well doubt whether the bravest Martian ever succeeded in reaching either pole of his planet. Yet our eyes have rested on those poiar regions, even on the very poles themselves. In the same way., an observer on Mars might direct a telescope toward those arctic regions of our earth which the most daring of our explorers have in vain attempted to reach. Mars turns around on its axis just as the earth does, except that the day lasts longer than the day on the earth. With the telescope it is possible io follow the hourly changes that take place on Mars, from sunrise to sunset. We can see the mists of morning gradually clearing away, and the gathering of clouds towards evening, probably to pass from the skies at uiglit, leaving the stars to shine with a greater splendor through a rarer atmosphere. Perhaps one or both of the little moons of Mars (for it has two, named Deitnos and Phobos) may be shining in the sky. Deimos rises in the east, like other stars, but the inner moon, Phobos, hurries around Mars three times a day. For this reason, it rises in the west every night, and sets in the east after about live and a half hours. Neither of the moons gives much light, since Phobos supplies only one sixtieth of the amount of light given by our moon, while Deimos gives only one-twelve hundredth. But the smullness of the Martian moons must he taken into consideration, since Phobos is only seven miles in diameter, and Deimos five or six. Continuing our observation of the planet Mars during the daytime, we see in imagination the white shore-line along which the murmuring waves ripple, or dash in breakers against rock and promontory. Clouds form, and rain falls on the surface of Mars, though not on such an extensive scale as here. Nevertheless, during the latter half of October, 1S94, an area muck larger than Europe remained
densely ooscurea. un anotner occasion, Sir Norman Lockyer noticed a great mass of clouds spreading over a sea many thousand square miles in extent. As the hours passed away, the clouds slowly dispersed, either melting on account of the sun's heat, or dissolving iu rain. When Lockyer ceased observing for the evening — at about half- past eleven — a large portion of the sea which had been concealed gradually came into view. On this same night, Mr William llutter Dawes, knowu as " the eagle-eyed astronomer, was also studying the planet of war, keeping it well under observation until the " wee, sma' hours," when he made an excellent drawing of the planet. Comparing this with a drawing made an hour earlier by Lockyer, it was seen that the clouds which had concealed the sea during the earlier part of the evening had passed entirely away. Referring these events to Martian time, the cloudy weather ou this occasion apparently occurred iu the forenoon, the midday hour bringing clear weather, which would seem to have lasted till the afternoon was far advanced. Judging from the whitish light which is usually seen all around the plauet's disk, the mornings aud evenings on Mars are misty. In 1877 Schiaparelli observed some peculiar lines on the surface of the planet Mars, and he called them canals. For nine years he was the only astronomer who could see theui ; and when in 1S81 he further announced that the canals had doubled, it wus supposed for a time that the Milanese astronomer was the victim of an illusion. However, since then, | the results of his observations of the canals of Mars have been abundantly confirmed both in Europe and America, especially at the Lick Observatory and the Flagstaff ' Observatory. The observations made by Mr Lowell at the latter observatory, and those already made by Schiaparelli, tend to make us feel very much at home on planet Mars. However, it i3 necessary to state that Mr Lowell's theories are not generally received among astronomers as satisfactorily established at present, but they are well worthy of consideration. The canals are not visible during the winter seasous in Mars ; but as springtime advances they make their appearance as faint, dark lines, growing wider and wider, until they are fifty miles across, and then, by way of variety, they double. In fact, single canals have been known to double themselves, literally at a day's notice, the twin canals running along side by side like railroad tracks; only, in this instance, the railroad tracks are separated by a distance of over two or three hundred miles. Some of the canals extend to a distance varying from three hundred to upwards of four thousand miles, and appear to he as accurately straight as lines can be upon a sphere. The canals seem to meet at a number of small spots or junctions, which have been termed " lakes " by Spbjaparellj, and " oases " by Mr Lowell. These small spots are scattered over the ruddy portion of the planet's surface, forming a curious network with the cauals, the spots at the junction of the caoals being as import
! ant a feature as the canals themselves. Mr Lowell assumes that the region intersected by the canals corresponds to , the desert region on earth, and that the canals were apparently constructed for j the purpose of fertilising this region, and the oases in the midst of the | i wilderness. Therefore, what we see is j not the cannl itself, hut vegetation I along its banks. Yet this does not i account for a canal doubling itself within twenty-four hours ; for, romance as wo may about Mars, we cau scarcely imagine vegetation developing with such amazing rapidity. As the canals widen, the oases do not iticrease in size, hut darken, which would seem to indicate that they become covered with vegetation as the season advances. Mr Lowell also enters into interesting
speculations as to tne canais uemg ui artificial formation, ignoring the rather serious difficulty as to the temperature of Mars. He sees evidence of engineering skill in the construction of the canal system, which he attributes to the superior ability of the Martians. Under the circumstances wn can well imagine the (supposed) inhabitants of Mars recognising the necessity of such canals as a protection against the destructive effects of the annual inundations ; hut, several years ago, Mr J. Orr, of the British Astronomical Association, found, on calculation, that i the construction of such canals would require an army of two hundred million men working for a thousand years.
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Date Issued
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1899-09-01
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Creator
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NA
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Publisher
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The Port Fairy Gazette
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Location State Territory
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Victoria
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Location Town City
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Port Fairy
