Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1899-06-23
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MARS AT CLOSE RANGE.
Easy to study His Face When Only
Thirty-nve Million Miles Awny.

Thirty-nve Million Miles Awny.
All the monster glasses with which
the late rapid advance has been made
Ia knowledge of our celestial neigh
bors have come into being since the
cfyll war. says Mrs. Mabel Loomls
Todd In ST. Nicholas. Until then, In
this country, the Harvard telescope of
Is inches was the largest. About 1860
one of 1S1a inches vas ordered for the
University Of Mississippi, but with the
breaking out Of the war telescopes had
To wait, and these lenses are now nt
the Northwestern university. in Evans
! ton, Ills. 1t Is only since 1870 that
really huge instruments have multi
piled and are nightly turned upon the
starry skies TO ask the questions which
seem to our impatience 50 slowly an
swcrel.
! But many answers have come, after
ALL and some things are clear which
stance, we feel ,luitc sure now that
Mars has an atmosphere, though not
more than half as dense as our own,
but far better than none. as we can
! tell by looking at our bright though
! dead and deSOlate moon, from which
air and water have long since disap-
pearcd And If Mars has air the polar
caps alone would seem TO show that he
has also ice and snow, and there ap-
pear to be, rs well, areas of water or
marsh. though less In extent than the
land. The northern hemisphere looks
brighter through the telescope, even
showing tints of red and yellow, which
astronomers are inclined to think are
chiefly dry land. probably desert
while the southern is dark, the seas
brown or dull gray, quite rs water
might appear. These spots were first
called seas, like the smooth regions Of
the moon, and the name continues In
both. whatever they may be.
In 1877 Mars was at his nearest TO
us; near, that Is, from an astronomers 8
point OF view, though really ut the
enormous distance Of 35.OO0000 miles.
Yet great deal was learned about
this neighhor In the sky among other
things that he Is attended by two tiny
satellites, or moons, never seen before,
And the same year an Italian Astrono-
mer, SiGnor Schlaparclli pronounced
skeea -pa-rel-ly), made careful studies
and drawings of the strange markings
on Mars, completing, with the fine tel
escope at Milan, series OF elaborate
sketches aftcrward combined into an
accurate detail nap.
Again, In 1892 and 1894, the earth
and Mars came near each other In
their flight through space though some
what farther than during the year
1871 And within the last few months
we have been once more In good po
sition to observe each other. But we
are favJrably placed because only
under these conditions can we see the
north pole OF Mars. and So much more
Is known about his south pole that
there il, OF course, n strong attraction
in the mysterious north regions. Only
at this great distance Is the north pole
graciously tilted toward us, so he has
been constantly watched this spring
and so he will be again in Il little Ovel
two years Eight years, how ,ver, vii
pass before the Martian south pole car
again be studied to good advantage. lr
September of 1909, too, all observato
ries will be ON the eager lookout fol
news from this fascinating planet.