The weekly herald. [volume] (Cleveland, Tenn.) 1876-1888, 1877-12-13
Mars

CoNcItu inc moons OF Jupiter, N cres
cent form Of Venus, and many othe
wonders in the heavens, he was al
together disappointed. His telescop
was indeed too small to show any fea
lures OF Interest In Mars, though tn
plan@ OF war Is much nearer TO us thai
Jupiter. Mars is but a small world
The diameter of the planet is about 4,
400 miles, that of our earth being abou
5000. Jupiter, though being mucI
farther away, has his immense diane
ter Of more than 10000 miles to max
up, and much more than make up, TO
the effect of distance, With his nobl
system of moons he appears a remarka
bic object even with a small telescope
but Mars shows fewer features of in
terest even with telescopes of consider
able size.
1t was not, then, till very powerful
telescopes had been constructed that as
tronomers learned what we now know
about Mars.
1t is found that his surface is divided
into land and water, like the surface Of
our W earth. But his seas and ocean,
are not nearly so large compared with
his continents and lands. You know
that on our own earth the water cover:
so much larger a surface than the land
that the great continents are in reality
islands. Europe, Asia and Africa to.
gether form one great island; North
and South America another, not quite
so large; then come Australia, Green
land, Madagascar, and so forth; all the
lands being islands larger or smaller.
On the other hand, except the Caspian
Sea and the Sea of Aral, there are nc
large seas entirely land-bound. In the
case of Mars a very different state OF
things prevails.
The planet Mars, like our earth,
turns on its axis, so that it has day and
night as we have. The length of its
day is not very different from that of
our own day. Our earth turns one on
its axis in-but before reading on,
try TO complete this sentence for your
self. Every one knows that the earth's
turning on its axis produces day and
night, and nine persons out of ten, if
asked how long the earth takes in turn
ing round her axis, will answer, "a
hours; and if asked how many times she
turns on her axis in a year, will say 3G5
times, or if disposed to be very exact,
''about 36514 times" But neither an
swer is correct. The earth turns on her
axis about 1861 times in each year, and
each turning occupies % hours Sc min
utes 4 seconds and | tenth of a second.
We, taking the ordinary day as the
time of a turning or rotation, lose count
of one rotation each year. 1t is neces-
sary to mention this, in orderthat when
| tell you how long the day of Mars is,
you may be able correctly to compare
it with our own day. Mars, then, turns
on his axis in "a hours 81 minutes %
seconds aud Z tenths of a second. So
that Mars requires Al minutes is Sec
onds and 6 tenths of a second longer to
turn his small body once eround than
our earth requires to turn ronud her
much larger body. Tie common day
of Mars is, however, only about 80 min
utes longer than our common Gay.
Mars has a long year, taking no less
than 6S7 Of our days to complete his
circuit round the sun, SO that his year
lasts only about one month an a half
less than two of ours.
Like the earth, Mars has seasons, for
his polar axis, like that of the earth, is
a%slant, and at one part of his year
brings his northern regions more fully
into sunlight, at which time summer
prevails there and winter in his south
ern regions; when at the opposite part
Of his year his southern regions are
turned more. fully sunward and have
their summer, while winter prevails
over his northern regions.
Around his pole, as around the earth's
there are great masses of ice, insomuch
that it is very doubtful whether any I'M
habitants of Mars have been able to
penetrate to his poles, any more than.
Kane or Hayes or Mares or Parry, de-
spite their courage and endurance,
have been able to reach our northern
pole, or Cook or Wilkes or James Ross,
our antarctic pole.
In the summer Of either hemisphere
of Mars. the north polar SHOWS become
greatly reduced in extent, as is natural
while in winter they reach to low lati-
tudes, showing that in parts of the plan
ct corresponding to the United States,
or mid-Europe, as to latitude, bitter
cold must prevail for several weeks in
succession.--St. Nicholas.