Los Angeles herald., 1892-08-04
APPOSITION OF MARS.
RESULT OF THE OBSERVATIONS AT
MT, HAMILTON.
Prof. Holden Gives an Account of the
Work Being Done-vsgue specu-
lations About the Rod
Planet Indulged In,

SAN Francisco. Aug. 3.--Prof. Edward
s. Holden, in lengthy communication
to the Associated Press, from Lick OBJ
seryatory, gives an account of the work
being done there during the present
opposition of Mars. lie says there
seems to be a general misapprehension
as to the character of the work being
DONE Astronomers do not expect to
discover an unkn own continent, but
after months of work, expect to make
new an d improved mapa of the planet,
just as surveyor, in making new sur
vey of the state of Arkansas, for in
stance, would do. Enough material has
already been obtained to considerably
improve the existing maps. He says:
In my opinion, the time has not yet
come to even speculate on the probable
ity OF Mars being inhabited, and it is
doubtful if the observations yet made
are sufficient to enable us to pronounce
the planet fit to be inhabited. There is.
very little doubt that science will by and
by be able to interpret all, or nearly all,
OF the phenomena seen, and to arrive at
certainties. just now it must be con-
fessed that only a few things are known
about our nearest planetary neighbor.
"We have found great changes in the
details of the surface Of Mars, while the
main outlines have remained much the
same. These changes have seemed
TO be SO great that it is, often
1ificu1t to explain them by
terrestrial analogies. If there are, in
deed, inhabitants of Mars, I think they
might be surprised at some of the con-
lectures which are current. on the earth
regarding their surroundings. If the
white cap at the south pole of Mars is
indeed snow and ice, it has been hard
winter for the Martial Esquimaux. II
the red areas are land and the dark ones
water, there are now two lakes where
there was one in 1877 and none in 1879.
We aIe speaking, it must be remem-
bered, OF bodies of water some hun
dreds OF square miles in area.
The facts of observation are correctly
given, but the explanation is 80 doubtful
that prefer simply to recite the facts,
and reserve the theory. Sometime dur
Ing the present autumn our observa-
tions will be finished, and maps COM
pleted and compared with the first maps
OF the same sort. 1t is probable that
then we cau draw conclusions which are
certain, and throw new light on this
very obscure problem
EASTERN OBSERVATIONS.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 3.-The moonlight
was too strong tonight, and the atmos-
pheric conditions unsatisfactory to the
scientists at the naval observatory, con-
sequently they could not see the appo-
sition of Mars very we'll. The planet
had the appearance OF a blazing ball of
fire on account of this disturbance in the
atmosphere, and no special phenomena
were therefore observed.
ROCHESTER,, N. Y, Aug. 3.,-Henry
@. Maine, the well-know astronomer
and "sun.spot' man, who has been
making close observations OF Mars, said
tonight: 'sMars presented no new
features at midnight. The markings
are comparatively faint because of the in
tense illumination of the disc. The snow
cap is now small. The western limb,
from the snop-cap northward, seems to
be more highly illuminated than the
eastern. The light of the western limb
appeared to be nearly white, but not SO
white as that reflected by the snow-cap.
In the southern hemisphere there was
quite distinct greenish gray streak
about 40 degrees from the pole"
New HAVEN, Ct, Aug. 3.-Yale is not
we'll enough equipped in its astronomi-
cal department to do very important
work on Mars at its present opposition.
It's eight-inch Grubb equatorial simply
permits the astronomers to obtain good
general view of the planetary detail.
NoRTHFIELD, Minn., Aug. 3.-The OBJ
servations taken at Lowelps observa-
tory have been unsatisfactory, as Mars
has not yet reached its highest altitude.
One of the moons has been visible for
thirty hours, but the other eludes obser-
walton. No startling discoveries are ex-
pected, although the atmosphere is
clearly visible.
HANOVER, N. H., Aug. Prof. S. @.
A. Young, of Princeton college, and
Prof. E. E. Frost, of Dartmouth, are
closely watching the planet Mars to-
night from Dartmouth observatory, but
up to a late hour nothing worthy of
note has been seen. Prof. Young
says that recently with his large 23-
inch telescope at Princeton, he OBJ
served substantially the same features
as the Lick observatory, but was unable
to discern the canals of Schiaparelli, the
Italian astronomer.