Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-05-23
SUNRISE ON THE MOON.
Of Former Volcanoes Dis
covered by Telescope.

A Boston dispatch says: Last evening small
party assembled to take farewellview through
the object glass Of the great Russian telescope
ere its departure for its eastern home The in
strument was turned upon the moon. and the
result is thus told:
The solid earth slips away from under their
feet. They have left 1t behind them They are
0ne hundred miles above the moon. sailing over
Its surface. The scenery below the party on
which they fix their gaze is tumultuously irreQ-
ular, and yet bears throughout a general re-
semoiance Here Is a specimen: A circular
cavity, the exterior on one side and the interior
on the other being brightly Illuminated. They
call it cavity but in the interior it seems level
except near the center, from which there rises
cone or dome. bright on one side. on
which the sun shines. and casting a shadow
on the other along the floor of the
enclosure. That central mound ia ';igher than
Mount Washington. The enclosing walls which
fence it in higher STILL and the enclosure it.
self is more than fifty miles across This Ia the
type of a lunar crater on grand scale Others
however are larger. their diameters being from
two to three times that which We examine and
covering surface In some instances of nearly
twenty thousand square miles. From this they
range down to insigniiicance. There are more
than fifty thousand craters on the mOOn which
Indicate how prevalent volcanic action once was
upon its surface What spectacle our satel-
lite must have presented at the period Of great
est volcanic disturbance. Fifty thousand era
tiers! mapy of them rvalng in height the loftier
mountains of our own globe Here they are
mixed together In ineXtricable confusion. No
wonder if the observing party are bewildered.
They have no time to study the craters In de-
tail; they must take them en- masse
Now the observers are on the Termination that
line which separates the light and dark parts of
the moon and which seems 80 even to the naked
eye. displaying now every conceivable irregu-
larity. What is that glitterlng In the dark? Is
1t the reflection from some artificial work flash
Ing the suns rays back. telling a tale Of habi-
tatiOn and industry No. it is mountain peak
catching the solar BEAM while the surrounding
region is in darkness. On that peak the lunar
day Is dawning, the long day OF 35415 hours
Could the party have time to watch it thew
would see the sunlight gradually steal along it's
rugged flanks. and slowly the whole landscape
become illumined. But it would only repeat in
Its general features that on which they had been
gazing. AS the sun gids that mountain top
does any living being hail the beams that usher
in the day? Now, if ever, is the time to ascer-
tain II there Is lite in the moon. The observers
are gazing through the greatest telescope in
the world. They strain their eyes to see some
sign. some token that the landscape they survey
is not desert They are willing to be con-
WINGED where facts command conviction. 1t is
grand. it is magnificent but the magnilcence
of desOatiOn. Where then, are the cities. the
Notifications, the cultivated fields that charmed
the eye and delighted the fancy of the older
astronomers? Is it possible that these once
existed and are now no mOre1