Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-04-05
vorcANors IN THE MOON.

Strange Phenomena Seen on the Face of
the Lunar Crescent-A Lofty Noun
tain Standing Out from the Surface of
the Queen of Night.
For long time the astronomers have
noticed changes going on upon the face
of the moon. Bright spots that had
previously been seen and delineated i'll
drawings and photographs Of the earth's
satellite were found to have disappeared,
and other bright spots were found to have
developed in localities where there
had been previously black expanses.
The astronomers tell US that the
bright spots seen on the face OF the
moon are the SUBMITS of mountains
Illuminated by the sun, which is
shining upon them. while the great dark
splotches are simply deep valleys shaded
from the light by surrounding and over
hanging mountains. These theories of
the earlier astronomers have been estab-
lished to be facts by the researches OF
modern science, armed with the far-Teach-
ing telescopes that have made the eX-
ploration Of the heavenly bodies so preg-
nant with importance and SO fruitful of
that the side of the moon which is turned
toward the earth is studded with noun
tains of great height and magnitude,
standing in profound valleys and ira
versed by canyons or clefts of enormous
depth.
The volcanic character of the lunar
mountains is unmistakable. All the crust
of the earths satellite is hOneycombed
with craters, and the volcanic action has,
some time or other, been astonishingly
energetic and widespread.
There are mountains on the moon as
much as 26, 900 feet above the surrounding
country, and they are much more than
that above a low datum line like the line
of the sea, but no sea is visible in the
moon.
The moon has been called dead star,
but if its internal fires can give it any
claims to life it is certainly a living
corpse. The signs of renewal of vol
canic action, which began to be discussed
a century ago. are now not merely scien-
tific nuts to be cracked, by the astronO-
mers, but they are facts for the people.
In 1887 Sir William Herschel declared
that he had seen through his powerful
telescope three volcanoes in state of
eruption in different parts of the MOON.
He had seen new mountains heaved up
out of the dark valleys. His announce
ments were met with incredulity and the
matter passed from notice; but in 1866
Dr. Schmidt, at Athens. announced that
the lunar mountain Lime, in whose sum-
NIT was a crater five miles in diameter,
had disappeared from the face of the
moon, and the fact was soon after sub
stantiated by the eminent Father Secchi
at Rome and was acknowledged by as
! trOnOmers at various other points.
Since then these changes in the pimples,
so TO speak, on the face of the moon, have
been more and more frequent, indicating
that the internal life Of the sO-called dead
planet has again been revived and is in
vigorous operation; but nobody was pre-
pared for the astonishing changes that
have taken place on that wonderful
| planet in the past week while it was in
its fourth quarter out of sight.
Signs of peculiar and decisive changes
have been observed on the slender cres-
l-cent of the present new moon. An astron-
Omer within the past week claims to have
| discovered something unusual going on
in the great peak of Tycho Brahe, a big
mountain which has always been prom
! inent object on the eastern side Of the
moon. Tycho is a volcanic crater, nearly
10000 feet high and fifty miles in diane
! ter. and it had up to within a few days a
peak a mile high, standing in this crater.
This peak which was only bright spot
in the midst of a black crater, has sud-
denly grown to be gigantic mountain,
nearly filling the entire basin of the era
ter, and towering above every other
mountain on the moon. 1t is estimated
now to be about nine miles high and
promises some startling phenomena.