The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-12-18
PROBLEMS ABOUT
THE PLANET MARS
Unsettled Questions % Which Farther
Observation ID Needed.
the GEM OF the EASTERN SKY.
On the Tenth Of This Month Mars
Will be in Opposition to the Earth,
But il will be Farther Away Than
Usual .. Interesting Speculation
Which Have Puzzled the Brains Of
the Leading Astronomers.
From the New York Tribune.

FROM tue kNtW 4okh AiAcuhS'
That lovely orange-cOlored object
which CLEANS with unmatched splendof
high up in the eastern sky every clear
evening Just now Is the planet Mars.
Although one of the smallest Of the
eight large bodies which revOlve around
the sun, 1t has probably excited more
popular interest than either the giant
Jupiter, with his belts and great red
spot, or Saturn, encircled with a ring
that makes the circus manager turn
green with envy. Mars has only half
the earth's diameter. and only about
one-seventh it's weight but 1t Is be-
Meved to be more nearly in the same
condition as the earth than any other
extra terrestrial sphere in the solar
system. And suspicious have been en-
tertained that perhaps 1t might even be
inhabited by turkey y-eating, novel-read-
ing, opera-loving. cigarette-smoking
mortals like human beings. Hence,
whenever the earth catches up with 1t
In the race around the sun, as 1t does
once In every twenty-siX months, and
comes within hailing distance Of the
ruddy little ball, astronomers scrutin-
ixe 1t eagerly. Just now the earth Is
running about neck and neck with 1t,
and will continue to do so for two or
three weeks to come. On December 10
the earth, which has the inside track.
crosses a straight line drawn from the
sun to Mars. and the latter Is then said
to be lin opposition" to the sun.
DISTANCES FROM EARTH.
The earth does not approach Mars
as closely at this opposition as 1t does
sometimes. His orbit is much more
elliptical than the earth's. and the two
are further apart in some places than
in others. In early August, 1892, they
came within 81, ,00O, 900 miles of each 9TH
er. and Mars then 'spanned an angle
of nearly twenty-seven seconds in Oc-
tober he was 4O,OOO.OO0 miles away at
the nearest, and had a diameter of
twenty-three and half seconds; and
this time his least distance will be g.
OOO,OOO miles and his diameter only
eighteen seconds. A partial compensa-
tion for this diminished size, however.
is found in the greater elevation of the
planet above the southern horizon,
when II crosses the meridian. On sew
eral recent occasions 1t was SO low that
atmospheric impurities embarrassed
the astronomers who studied the Mar
tian surface: but on the present occa-
sion the circumstances are exceptional
ly favorable in this respect.
How great an advantage this Is will
be partially realized when one recalls
the controversy recently started In re-
gard to the extent of the atmosphere
Of Mars. This has been considered less
than that Of the earth's. but still rath-
er considerable. One class of evidence
adduced in support of such a notion
was that which Higgins, Vogel and
other astronomical soectroscopists be-
lieved that hey had found years ago.
In the spectrum of Mars they detected
lines Indicative of the presence of wa
ter vapor, and this created the neces-
sity of an aerial envelope in which the
water vapor could be suspended. Dur
ing the opposition of 1894, however Pro-
fessor w. w. Campbell. of the Lick OBJ
servotory, made spectrOscOpic observa
tions which led him to suspect that the
moisture previously detected was real
ly In the earth's own atmosphere, and
not In the environment of Mars. In
fact, he was inclined to believe that the
planet was almost or quite as devoid
Of air as the moon, which Is credited
with an exceedingly small quantity.
Professor Campbell's announcement of
these observations and convictions Gre
ated sensation in the astronomical
world. The question Is now regarded
as an open one, and special researches
will doubtless be undertaken at the
present time with a view to its settle
ment.
SEAS AND CANALS.
Another problem which is receiving
q great deal of attention relates to
those dark areas hitherto called seas"
and the narrower lines called canals"
Are they really bodies and streams Of
water. or are they masses and streaks
of vegetation? Perhaps three -fourths
most uniformly yellowish-red. Pretty
much all Of the northern hemisphere
(shOwn In the lower half of the draw
tngs, because an astronomical telescope
inverts the image), and a large portion
of the southern hemisphere, present
such an appearance. This area has
generally been taken for land sur
face. large tract surrounding the
South pole, and some detached, oblong
patches near it are greenish- blue in
color, and were long thought to be
oceans and seas. The narrow lines
called canals. which are not over fif-
teen or twenty miles wide, and which
intersect the continental area, are also
dark, sometimes definitely black and
sometimes only gray, but strongly re-
sembling in color the sombre- hued re-
giOns Just mentioned.
Now, while these various markings
have been seen often enough in ex-
actly the same position to give them
an appearance of permanence, and to
make possible an elaborate chart of the
Martian surface. they have exhibited
some puzzl1ng changes of outline and
tint. 1t will sometimes happen that a
so-called sea will be sharply defined.
On other occasions its edges are vague,
their color shading away to a pale
gray, scarcely distinguishable from
continental borders which have also
lost something of their characteristic
hue. Moreover, the extent of the
seas" is greater at one time than at
another. Many noticeable encroach-
H.
bright ones have been recorded. Then
again, the canals" are more numer-
GUS at one time than at another. And
the phenomenon of doubling, first OBJ
served about fifteen years ago by the
Milanese astronomer, Schiaparelli, is