The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1899-06-02
Mara at Close Range.

All the monster glasses with which the
late rapid advance has been made in
knowledge Of our Celestial neighbors
have come into being since the Civil war,
says Mrs. Mabel Loomis Todd in st.
Nicholas. Until then, in this country,
the Harvard telescope of fifteen inches
was the largest. About 1860 one of
eighteen and u half inches was ordered
for the University Of Mississippi; but
with the breaking out OF the war telc.
scopes had to witt, and these lenses are
now ut the Northwestern university, in
Evanston. Iii. 1t is only since 1870 that
really huge instruments have multiplied
ana are nightly turned upon the starry
SKIES to ask the Questions which seem t.
our Impotence so slowly answered,
But many answers have come. after
all, and some things are clear which be-
fore could only be surmised. For in
stance, we feel quite sure now that Mars
mas le an atmosphere, though not more than
half as dense as our own; but far better
than none, as we can tell by looking nj
our bright though dead and desolate
moon. from which air and water has
long since disappeared. And if Mars has
air, the polar caps alone would seem to
show that he has also ice and snow: and
there appear to be, as well. areas of wa.
ter or marsh, though less i'll extent than
the land: The Northern hemisphere
looks brighter through the telescope, evc.,
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 as water might ap-
pear. 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 Isl from an astronomers point
of view, though really at the enormous
distance of 35,OOO,OOO miles. Yet great
deal was learned about this neighbOr i'll
the sky-umong other things, that he Is
attended by two tiny satellites, or moons,
never seen before. And the same year
an Italian ASTRONOMER Signor Schiape-
relli tpro1ouhced skcea arel-ly) made
careful studies and drawings Of the
strange markings Oil Mars, completing.
with the fine telescope at Milan, d se-
ries of elaborate sketches aftprwdrd com
bined into All accurate detail map.
Again, lii 1892 aid 1891, the earth and
Mars came near each OTHER iii their flight
through space, though somewhat farther
than during the year 1877. And within
the last few months we Have beef dice
more i'll a good position to observe each
other. But we are favorably placed be.
cause only under these conditions can We
see the north pole of Mars and so much
more is known about his south pole that
there is, of course, /; strong attraction il,
the mysterious north regions. Only at
this great distance is the north pole gra-
ciously tilted toward us, so he has been
constantly watched this spring; and So
he will be again in little over tive
years. Eight years, however, will pass
before the Marian south pole can again
be studied to good advantages: in Sep.
TENDER of 1913. too, all observatories will
be OH the eager lookout for news from
this fascinating planet.