The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1892-08-11
More Facts Concerning Our Mys-
terious Little NeiEhbor.
some OF The SPECULRTIONS
By sclentlsts..ThO Extens OF Its Sur
face Only onc.Thlrd That of the
Earth. nut IT Is Worry Probable
I That 1t Is Inhao.tcd-The System
Of Canals That Have Been DIscov-
cred.
YOUNG. of Pnactfon coNeoe.

Au6 lS kAS pLa%Sb @ANANI
is nearer to us than 1t has been at any
time since 1877, aud almost as near as
it Is possible for it 70 como. Its closest
approach occurred on August s, whom
the distance was IS, 100000 miles, but
for ten days before and after it doos not
vary as much as half a million.
Mara sthe planet next outside the
earth, and its orbit, like that Of the
earth, is nearly circular; but whilo the
earth's orbit has ~itscenter very near the
sun, the center otthe orbit Of Mare is
more than 100000 miles distant from
the sun, and for this reason the die
lance between the two orbits varies
greatly in different places. At one place
the two orbits come within a little loss
than 35,000,OO0 miles, while on the other
side the interval between them Is more
than 100000 mites. The case is the
same as If the two orbits were circular
race tracks or circus rings; on tho scale
Of q million miles to q zoo: Of the eaEth's
orbit would then be q ring 1856 feet in
diameter, while the orbit OF Mars would
be 2S3 feet across, and the inner one
would be nearly fourteen feet out OF
confer as compared with the outer one.
Now as the earth races round her ring
once a wear, while Mars takes o year
and ten months TO complete.her circuit,
the earth is continually overtaking and
passing her slower brother on the out
side track-once in about two years
and fifty days on the average--and once
in fifteen years the passing point Is not
far from the place where the tracks
come nearest. At the time when the
earth is thus passing between Mars and
the sun the planet is said to be in "op-
position" because it then Is just oppo-
site to the sun in the sky, rising at sun
set and remaining visible all night
long. And II the Opposition occurs at
one OF the points of close approach be-
tween the orbits, it is said to q "iavora-
BILE opposition" and 10 regarded by
astronomers as an opportunity to be
made OF, sincei it comes only once in
fifteen years.
Fifteen years ago Professor Hall, OF
our National Observatory at Washing
ton, discovered the two little satellites
ormoons which circle around the planet
Ia discovery which was regarded with
the greatest INTEREST," by all astronomers,
and conferred immortality on'the for
tnnate observer. 1t islperhaps hardly 70
expected that any discovery OF such
capital Importance is likely to be made
this year, but all the great telescopes
OF the word, and o host Of smaller ones,
are turned upon the planet every night
in the hopes Of finding out something
net and worth knowing.
We must not imagine, however, that
because the planet is only 35,O0O.00O
miles away it is exactly within "hailing
distance" Even now Mars is almost
l60times as far away as the meen, and
while with powerful telescopes it is pos
sible to make out some of the leading
features OF the planets geography 1t is
hopelessly impossible to recognize the
minor details. II on the moon there
were a city like New York we could
easily seei It with even a moderate tele-
scope, but on Mars it would be quite
invisible with the most powerful in
struments we possess; under the most
favorable circumstances they would
hardly be able to show any spot mark
ingon the surface OF the planet unless
Il were at least as much as twenty or
thirty miles across, and the features
which we are actually able to make out
with certainty are all on a much larger
scale.
Mars is q very interesting planet be-
cause, on the whole, it more resembles
the earth in Its nature and conditions
than any other Of the heavenly bodies
with which we are acquainted. There,
il anywhereithere might be life such as
we have upon the earth. And yet 1t is
by no means a duplicate Of the earth;
it ist only about 1920 miles in diameter
fiust double the size Of the noon, and
the extent OF its surface is, therefore,
only about one-third as great as that OF
the earth, while its mass is but one
ninth; on its suface bodies weigh only
aslittle more than a third what they
would weigh on the earth: the air is
thinner than here, and storms and
clouds appear to be much less prevalent
than with u.s., while the temperature
seems TO be higher, thouRhthis is by no
q vet fully proved; 1t Is difficult to
explain why It should be SO, since the
SUMS heat at Mars is only about half as
powerful ashore.
On account of the great changes in
the planets distance from US its appar-
emit size and brightness alter greatly
from time to time. A year ago, when 1t
was on the other side Of the sun and
248,000,000 miles away, it was scarcely as
blight as the pole star, and even ID the
telescope was nothing but q mere
speck, showing q little disc less than
four seconds in diameter--not so large
q that OF Uranus. Now 1t Is fully fifty
times as bright, and Its disc is seven
times as large.
AT present the planet Is an extremely
beautiful object even in G small tele.
scope: the surface Is delicately tinted
with various shades Of color prevailing
ruddy, though there are spots OF q blu
ishgreen, and some which are dazzling
white. In tact tho most striking fea-
ttre At present Is the glittering ice-cap
M least IL is believed to be Ice OF
SnoyI. which covers the. south pole Of
the planet. It is unusually largo this
season, having had q diameter OF fully
athousand miles July /, but it 10 rap
idly shrinking as the sun rises higher
on the southern atmosphere. The
northern pole is now tipped away from
the sun and the earth, so that the
northern ce-cap ia seen only as a mere
streak Of light. along tho edge OF the
disc.
Next to the ice.cap the greenish Seas
and oceans" as they vre called and be
ileyed to be, stand in tho order Of con
righteousness. They elrdle the plauet't
EQUATOR almost completely, and the mos
noticeable Of them are shaped much
like tho Bay Of Bensal53pointed, with