The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-08-16

| earth disappeared from Mars when 1t
swung into line between that planet and
the sun.
Neither were any Of the curious details in
the south polar snow region that have been
| detected at the Lick observatory and by
Prof. Pickering at Arequipa visible at
/ Princeton on the occasion OF my visit.
/ understand, however, that some weeks ago
! Prof. Young saw distinctly blue patch on
the planet not far from the equator, which
! recalls Prof. Pickering's description Of the
blue area noticed by him in a similar Ioca-
| ton.
It needs but a glance at Mars to perc eve
that the relations of sea and land to sone
another If the dusky and reddish ar cas- re-
ally are, respectively, water and dry
grOund) are very different from their rela-
tions upon the earth. In the first place the
seas are comparatively much smaller than
upon the earth and their total area is only
about equal to the area of the land, while
on our planet three quarters of the surface
is covered with water. Mars apparently has
both OF its poles surrounded by water like
the earth while q broad belt Of land en-
circles the planet around the equator, ex-
tending through many degrees OF latitude
in both directions, but being considerably
more extensive in the northern hemisphere.
This belt OF land is cut up into small con-
tinents by straits connecting the water
systems of the hemispheres, and, according
to Schiaparelli, is traversed in almost every
conceivable direction by the narrow, dusky
bands called canals, which were first
seen by him, and which during the pres
ent opposition have been seen also at the
Lick observatory. Probably no reputable
astronomer would give countenanoe to the
idea that these lines or bands, which seem
to be water courses because they are oon-
nected on all sides with the areas supposed
to be seas, are artificial canals. They show
curious variations from time to time, in
Guiding the phenomenon Of doubling wit
messed by Schiaparelli, which appear
TO depend upon the change of
seasons. Nobody who is at all
familiar with the phenomena of optical de-
ception which besets the observer on all
sides when he is working near the limits OF
vision would be surprised If it should turn
out that the real appearance Of the so-called
continents Of Mars is quite different from
that which they present with our present
telescope powers That there is something
very singular on that planet no one can
doubt who has looked at 1t with powerful
telescope.
1t was easier to see the moons of Mars
than to detect the finer details Of the mark
ings on its surface. Notwithstanding the
haziness of the atmosphere these two little
dots of light were perfectly distinct when
the planet itself was hidden behind bar In
the field OF view, and having once caught
sight of them in this way IL was not
difficult to see them even 10 the fuh
glare Of the planet In the course of
the evening the inner satellite, Phobos,
which circles round Mars at ar average dis
lance OF only 3, 75J miles from its surface
and with an average velocity Of 800 miles
an hour, was seen to move from its greatest
elongation nearly 60 the edge of the planet
behind which 1t disappeared in the course of
its revolution.
The movement of the outer satellite, Del
mos, whose average distance from the
planet is II, sos miles, was also perceptible.
In appearance nothing could be more in
! significant than these little moons, the
merest specks of light, not larger, 1t seemed,
than the point OF a needle, but their evident
motion added an element of intense interest
to the scene, and one could not avoid think
ing OF the appearance which they must
| present from the surface Of Mars Phobos,
whose rapid fight was so evident in the
| telescope, makes a complete circuit of the
| planet three times in the course of a single
day, and consequently moves in the sky Of
Mars in a direction opposite to that Of every
other heavenly body.
| IT, as some astronomers suspect, these
satellites did not originate like our moon
| from the same mass out of which the planet
that governs them was formed, but were
| originally independent bodies, like the
asteroids, the interest in them is greatly in
creased. According to that view they
must have been captured ov Mars aud com
PEELED by his overpow ering attraction to &C
company him forever after in his circuits
about the sun. A slight additional degree
OF probability is lent to this
theory by the fact that, although they
were never Seen until 1877, when Prof Hal
discovered them with the great Washington
| telescope, they have since been visible with
comparatively small telescopes at nearly
every opposition. Has Mars, then, come
into possession of its satellites only recently
Ii so, who can imagine the emotions OF
those supposititious astronomers on Mars
who have recently been pictured for us with
all the liveliness Of Gallo fancy9 The eartt
has picked up many a strange meteorite in
Its long journey through tae mysterious
realms of space, but it has never yet made
such catch as thai of pair of moonsl