Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-08-13
MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON.
Cepsrnieps and Other Great Crsssr Of thu
Earth's satellite.

Cepsrnieps end Other Great Crassrs OF the
Earth's Satellite.
From the Chicago Herald
The best existing map of the mountains OF
the moon shows sass crater-shaped projec-
tons, and astronomers tell us that loo, 900 are
brought into view with . telescope Of medium
power. This immense body Of promineucee on
the moons surface Is in strong contrasts to the
earth, which has very few volcanic craters, and
If they really were al eruptiss volcanoes ~ Der
steinder weisen has been, perhaps too hastily,
assumed, the moons surface during their
activity would have formed an admirable rep
resentation of the popular hell. But not only
does the immense number OF these so-called
moon craters reflect doubt on their volcanic
origin; the disproportionateiy enormous spread
OF some Of them is no less opposed to the view
The moon crater Copernlcus, which Is perhaps
the most beautiful Of these structures, presents
the appearance Of n circular wall and has .
diameter OF more than 80 kilometers (about 81
miles). The wall rises in one place almost per-
pendicular to q height of 4, 900 meters. The
surface Of the inclosed space is fairly level
and Is much higher than the surface outside the
ring.
From the surface Of the inclosed space six
conical peaks rise to q height of about 100
meters, and these might be regarded as the
eruptive cones, II one adhered TO the analogy
with the volcanoes OF the earth. But this view
Is hardly tenabIe. Stones, &C., projected from
volcano describe very sharp, pointed arch
in their course, aud il the circular wall Of
Copernicus is composed of matter thrown up
from the inclosed vents. it must have been
thrown to a height ten or twenty times as great
as the distance from the vent TO the wall, say AZ
least 400 kilometers. This is uncomfortable
and We are driven to seek some other ex-
PLANTATION.
Many explanations have been advanced to ac-
count for the origin Of the mountains Of the
moon. Faye, for example, q French sstrono-
mer, who became famous through the acct
dental discovery Of q periodic comet. and who
since then has INDUCED in new theories on the
origin Of everything from sun spots to the uni
verse, has given us his theory OF the formation
OF the mountains Of the moon in precise detail
but the origin Of he great circular towers OF
Copernicus Is still Unexplained These regular
circular walls not have originated in any
force operating from within. Ii the glowing.
molten mass within sought vent it would rup-
ture the crust and form great riffs radiating
from the center. There are, in fact. some such
radiaions visible on the moon, but they are of
rare occurrence.
The principal radiating system starts from a
great crater, Tycho, in the south half of the
moon, and extends over half the moon s surface,
and We can well conceive that the crust Of the
moon at one time, cooling and contracting
upon the molten mass within, was rnptured and
the riffs filed with the molten mass. This inner
material is more brilliant than that on the
moons surface and, under favorable conditions
Of light, il visible to US now. although it has
long been cold.
But, a. already said, the circular towers Of
the moon are not to be accounted for by any
theory Of force working from below. Let us
ask ourselves then what could operate from
above? One anonymous hypothesis founder at
tributes the structures simply to the action Of
meteorites. Enormous masses Of this sort fell
on the moon aud broke through its crust leav-
ing an opening on the edge of which the molten
internal MAS rose by pressure of the falling
body and soaidifed a. wall The fluid MAS
then fell back again, forming the solid surface
Of the interior. These metsorites must, how
ever, have been Of enormous size, and il we
cannot make an unqualified denial of the ex-
istence Of such immense bodies we have ct least
good reason TO conclude that the moon could
not have encountered any such . number of
them ~ would be necessary 10 account for the
Thousands Of craters on her surface.
Besides these supposed true and pseudo era
tiers in the moon. there Is third phenomenon
known ss riffs or rills-veritable wrinkles upon
the moons face. They appear 10 be cracks
such a. We see In clay or mud under the in
huence Of the suns rays after . 10 e spell Of
hot, dry weather. Days and nights on the
moon are Of fourteen days duration. and the
great variations Of Temperature TO which the
surface Of the moon II consequently subjected
may possihly account for the ribs, of which
thare are several hundreds, and which have
been regarded - The most pnxslins objects on
our attendant planet