Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1878-08-19
TIE Moons Myriad Small crater.

sUFPoSEp TO HAVE BEEN MADE BY NErFoRs
To, pI ~ ~ Tue NOON Plastic PERIOD.
tor, has pu0i>hed recently some inreD tons
theories as 10 the origin Of the craters Of thu
moon. lie says he really surprising char
dcteTlSlc cl The lunar sEriac" Is thu AMAZING
number OF lunar craterS. Even q alileo. thongS
with his weak telescope he could see hui fsxa
ol the craterS which really exist in the moon.
compared those in the southwestern mari N
the moon : disc TO the eyes lu a peacock : tail
With each increase OF telescope power more
and more craters have been seen Regions
supposed 10 nave been comparatively smooth
have been found on closer scrutiny with higher
powers. or under more favorable conditions,
10 be covered with minute craters. The Slopas
OF the larger craters, even I'm some cases heir
floors. have been found Ia be Strrwn with small
crater shaped depreSsi3ns In fine, almost
the whole surface of The moon may be said IN
De pltted with depreSSiJns az al sizes. from
mighty CULTS, 2,Uo or 800 miles across. down to
minute saucer shaped shadows. such as only
the most powerful telescopes VIII reveal. I
propose 10 enter here into = brief conSidera-
cTaters.
The point to be chiefly noticed IL. that 4
mass lar 100 Small 10 Oe dISceTnibe at the
moons distance would produce a Gisceruihl,
mark III II fell on the moons surface in the
P!aStlc era. A circular depression far larger
In diameter than the falling mass. would be
formed al the place where il had pierced the
ylSclUuS crust. 80 that We might fairly lake
INTO account The downfall ~ all the very large
meteurIteS-that Is, according 10 our estimate
lavS,pn masSeS--aS competent 20 leave marks
such as could De recognized With powerful
telescopes from our earth, Supposing nothing
happened IN later stages NJ the moon, history
10 obi crate such marks.
Among these lGn9o,nS1 mcteOriteS ten only
in thousand perhaps might be very large, -
as 10 leave where they fell circular depres>ions
from quarter If a uile 10 4 mic ia diameter
For the diameter u the aerolltes themselves
o. course, would not Oe nearly SO large as that
OF The circular depression left where they had
faiien. ia this case about loo.ObluS small
shallow crates would he formed on the mooas
surface during the plastic era
Bur again. among heSe very large aeroites,
probably Some-it might be only one In thou
sand-w,uid be excessively large from Guar
Ter TO half mile perhaps in diameter Ii is
true, We Know OF no such mass having struck
our earth within historic times. nor have any
SGch masses tcen recognized an tne eartn's
crust huJ go many instances are on record Of
the passage Of masses apparently as large as
luD yards IN diameter through our air, which
but Tor the air would certainly have fallen with
their full mass Oh The earth : solid surface that
We cannot but believe in the existence even 10
this day OF many enormous meieorites. and i'm
the probability that al long intervals they fall
upon our earth 3 atmospheric shield. Thus
during these o,ut.tu0 years some hundred very
large masses would fail upon the moons plaS-
tic surface, leaving where they had pierced the
moon : crust vast circular uepreSsiOnS, each
far exceeding in diameter the mass whose
downfall had produced II.