Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-10-25

| 1t was all guess on their part but assnrediy
| one of the most remarkable guesses ever made.
l Describing his voyage to Laputa, which was
inhabited by q people given over to the science
| OF astronomy, CULVER says:
| They have likewise discovered two lesser
| stars or satellites, which revolve about Mars,
| whereof the innermost is distant from the
| planet exactly three of it's dameters, and the
| outermost five of the diametcrs of the planet;
! the former revolyes In the space of ten hours
| and the latter in twenty-oue and half hours"
| Now. :he fact is as discovered only the other
| day. that Mars really has two moons. an inner
| one and an outer one. The diameter of Mars
| being a little over 1000 miles Gullivers esti-
mate for the distance of the inner
moon from the planet was about
| 1900 miles, whereas it is actually
/ 10000 miles away. For the outer moon Gull
| liver gives 1000 miles rs the distance, which
| Is really only 1900 miles. So he only
| 1000 miles off the fact as to one moon and
| 5000 AS to the other. CULVER mentions the
| time OF revolution for the inner moon rs seven
| and One-haif hours; 1t Is actually ten hours
| The time for the outer moon is set down by
! the imaginary traveller at twenty and half
| hours; in fact it is only nttle over thirty
| hours. Pretty good for guess at moons that
never offered to human observers until a cen
| fury later the slight evidence of their exist
! ence.
Voltare described the journey of NIIcrome-
gas, an inhabltant OF SIRIUS. who lett the great
| dog star for Il visit to the solar system. He
\
OF leagues after leaving Jupiter. Coasting by
Mars he saw two moons clrcling about the
planet, which have hitherto escaped the OBJ
| Servation of astronomers on the earth"
Prof. Hall has named his moons Deimos and
| Phobos. after tho attendants of Mars. who are
spoken of In book Is OF Homer's Iiiad help-
| ing to accouter the god OF war for conflict.
.'Hs sPske and ID Fesr and Flight to yoke
His steeds ana pui his glorious arlnor on"
| MARS INHABITED.
| Prot. Hall says he has little doubt that Mars
is ;nhabited-perhdps by human beings like
ourselves. Conditions there are suitable to
| such life and strongly resemble those found
| on the earth. Its more eccentric orbit takes
| 1t at times IN Its journey around the
| farther away from that great source OF heas, SO
tina: its winters must be more severe; but cold
| Is modified by atmosphere. and it is known
that Mars has an atmosphere. because clouds
are frequently seen obscurinS its surface. The
planet the diameter OF which is one half that
| Of the earth, Is about equally divided to its
| area between land and water. Its poles
| capped with ice and snow. and these white
caps. plainly visible through the telescope in
l crease IN size in winter and diminish in the
| Marian summer. Prof. Hall has no difficulty
| in seeing through the mighty telescope at the
| observatory the wonderful canals" mapped
| out by Schiaparelli. the Milan astronomer. on
| the surface of Mars. These canals, so called
| because they don't look like anything
| else in particular, and also because they
| seem invariably to connect with
sea- intersecting every which way, must be
several miles in width well as thousands Of
miles in length. Whether they are great roads,
| canals, bridges or any other sort of public
works there Is certainly nothing approaching
them in this world. But Prof Hall does not
think that they are artificial at all. Though
entirely at a loss to explain them he supposes
that they are natural markings on the planet
OTHER PLANETS THAT CAN SUPPORT LIFE.
Tbp hath tbar ,lop in,
| habited is always interesting one. 1t is GER
| tain that the four great outer ones-Jupiter,
Saturn. Uranus and Neptune-cannot support
| animal life. Their density is small and their
consistency more or less liquid and gaseous.
Jupiter, biggest of the planets, the diameter
of which Is more than ten times that Of the
earth. is a sun not yet quite exunguished and
even now giving out heat. From time to time
! IA spot appears on its surface, which is a black
hole In the midst of the fire big enough to drop
| the earth into. Saturn is hot. too, while Nep-
tune and Uranus are so far off that nothing
much can be ascertained about them beyond
the fact that Uranns has four moons and
| Neptune one. There may be life on Venus and
Mercury, though 1t must be warm. inasmuch
| as Venus is a third nearer the sun than the
earth and Mercury Is not half 80 far away.
| WITH GREAT VELOCITY.
| Ali these planets. together with the sun
! around which they revolve, ure travelling with a
/ velocity inconceiyable directly north toward
| the constellation Hercules. Doubtless the
| solar system on this mighty journey is pursu-
! ing the path of a vast orbit around some cen-
trial point unknown. Once il was thought that
| this point was Sirius aud again that it AL
| cyons, in the Pleiades, but neither is true
| Our sun and its system are but a small affair
altogether, any way. What we call the orb of
| day is only one-eighth OF the slze of Sirius
And even this latter giant sun is far surpassed
in magnitude by ever SO many other suns that
are wheeling through the heavens with their
i attendant consultations in plain sight. To
make them more beautiful these suns are of
| different coiors Vega, in the constellation Of
| the Lyre, has a huge sun OF exquisite blue
/ tint, Sirius is white and Alpha-one of the sew
| eral gigantic suns in Orion-is red
An ExcusabIe Mistake.