The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1891-01-09
PLANET MARS DYING.
It Is Approaching the Condition of tho
Moon.

1t Is Approaching the Condition of tho
Moon.
Professor w. II. Pickering, Of IIar-
ward College, thinks that the planet Mars
is dying. For something like year he
has been devoting great portion OF
his time to observations of the planet
Mars. Professor Pickering used in his
observation the 10 inch telescope, which
is soon to be mounted at the Arequipa
station of the Harvard Observatory, and
he made most determined efforts to add
to our knowledge of the most interesting
member of the planetary system.
ut is all hypothesis after all, he said
to a New York Herald correspondent.
"There is no definite proof. We know
that there are great patches of white in
the polar regions of the planet and that
they increase in winter and diminish in
summer. This fact is abundantly con-
firmed by photographs taken by the
Harvard College astronomers Mt our sta
ton on Mount Wilson in southern Cali
fornia. On the night Of the 10th of
April we took an observation and on the
succeeding night another one. On the
second occasion we found that the white
space in the southern hemisphere had
increased during the 81 hours by an area
nearly as large as the United States. SO
you see il this white appearance is due
to snow there must have been n tre-
mendous storm in southern Mars on the
10h of April
Professor Pickering remarked in an
swer to n question about the northern
hemisphere that the southern half of the
planet was far more interesting. 1t is
in that section that the dark places are
located which are supposed to be water.
The planet, in his opinion, being older
than the earth as we'll rs smaller, has
passed the stage in which the earth now
is and is approaching the condition of
the moon-in other words, is dying Its
equatorial region is already practically
a desert. and il there be any life on Mars
it is in the southern hemisphere.
The appellation "canal." given by
Schiaparelli to the marks upon the
planets surface is, in Professor Picker
ing's view, a misnomer. He succeeded
this summer in seeing several of them.
although it was only after months
steady training Of his eye and regulat-
ing of the power of his instruments that
he was able to distinguish any. He is
inclined to think that the number of
these lines may have been overstated,
but at all events he does not believe that
they contain any water. He has failed
with the spectroscope to discover any
traces of watery vapor in the canals,
though it would be possible to discover
it if it exists. Neither does he believe
that these "canals" have changed in
form, rs claimed.
In the course Of the conversation the
professor said that the general color of
the planet was dark red. On one night
it appeared darker than before but not
rs dark red as New Jersey mud, with
which he had compared it.
Professor Holden, director of the Lick
Observatory, says, among other things.
in n telegram to the Herald: II think it
very important to emphasize the fact
that no one knows anything whatever
about the actual existence or non exist
ence of life on the planets. The best
that can be done is to inquire as to their
conditions for habitability. Even here
the most earnest efforts of the best
Observers with the best telescopes have
accomplished very little.