The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-06-04
THE PLANET OF ROMANCE.
Mars, Her Moons and Her Canals,
and What the Astronomers Say
About Them.
Mary Proctor, in st. Nlcholas.

planet in the solar system. In ancient
times 1t was selected as the planet of war
on account of its rudy light, its symbol
being the spear and SHE'D of the old As
syrian warriors. But the evil qualities at
tributed TO the rudy hue of Mars by PEG
pie believing in planetary influences have
long ago been consigned to the realms of
romance. ard Mars is no longer held ac-
countable for the wars and disasters that
take place on planet Earth
Seen through a fine telescope, Mars pre-
sents the appearance of a miniature earth
Heating overhead the ruddy markings in
dcating land, the greenish markings out
lining seas and water courses, while white
caps adorn the regions corresponding to
the Polar regions on earth. The astrono-
mer. in the quiet and ease of his observa-
tory, can make a study of these regions
which may not as yet have ever been seen
by the inhabitants of Mars because of the
dangers which prevent access TO them. We
may wei doubt whether the bravest Mar
tian ever succeeded in reaching either pole
or the Planet. Yet our eyes have rested
on those Polar regions, even on the very
poles themselves. In the same way an OBJ
server on Mars might direct a telescope
toward those Arctic regions of our earth
when the most daring of our explorers
nave IN vain attempted to reach
Mars turns around on its axis lust as the
eafth does, except that the day lasts long
er thah the day on earth. With the tee-
scope, II is possible TO follow the hourly
changes that take place on Mars. from
sunrise TO sunset. We can see the mi;ts
or morning gradually clearing away, and
the gathering of clouds toward evening
PROBABLY TO pass from the skies at night
leaving the stars to shine with greater
spsendor through a rarer atmosphere
Fefhaps one or both of the little moons of
Mars (for 1t has two, named Deinlos and
Phobos) may be shining in the sky. Del
mos rises in the east, like other stars,
out the inner moon, Phobos hurries
around Mars three times a day. For this
reason it rises in the west every night
ana sets in the east after about five and a
mar hours. Neither of the moons gives
much light, since Phobos supplies only
one-siNtleth of the amount of light given
| by our moon, while Deimos gives only
/ one twelve hundredth. But the small
/ ness of the Marian moons must be taken
| into consideration, since Phobos is onIv
or six. ~
continuing our observation of the planet
Mars during its daytime we see in imag-
! nation the white shore-:ine along which
the murmuring waves ripple or dash in
/ breakers against rock and promontorv.
Clouds form and rain falls on the surface
| Oh Mars though not on such an extensive
| scale az here. Nevertheless, during the lat
ter half of October, 1894. an area much
| larger than Europe remained denseIy OBJ
/ scured. On another occasion, Sir Norman
! Aock4er noticed a great mass of clouds
! spreading over a sea many thousand
! square miles in extent. AS the hours passed
! away, the clouds. slowly dispersed, either
melting on account of the SUMS heat, or
! dtssoNng in rain. When Lockyer ceased
/ observing for the evening-at about half
/ past eleVen-a large portion of the sea
/ which had been concealed gradually came
/ into view On this same night, Mr. VIII
| liam Rutter Dawes, known as the eagle
! eyed astronomer" was also studying the
/ planet OF war, keeping il well under OBJ
| servatou until the I'VE sma' hoursj' when
| he made an excellent drawing of the plan
et Comparing this with drawing made
| an hour earlier by Lockyer, it was seen
that the clouds which had concealed the
sea during tho earlier part of the evening
had passed entirely away. Referring these
| events to Marian time, the cloudy wealth
er on this occasion apparently occurred in
! the forenoon, the midday hour bringing
clear weather, which would seem to have
| lasted till The afternoon was far advanced
| Judging from the Whiush light which is
| usually seen all around the planets disk
the mornings and evenings on Mars are
misty
In 1877 schiaparelli observed some pecu-
liar lines on the surface of the planet
Mars, and he called them canals For
nine years he was the only astronomer
| who could see them, and when in 1881
| he further announced that the canals had
| doubled, it was supposed for time that
the Milanese astronomer was the victim
of an illusion. However, since then the
! results of his observations of the canals
of Mars have been abundantly confirmed
| both in Europe and America especially
al the Lick observatory and the Flagstaff
observatory The observations made by
! Mr.. Lowell in the latter observatory, and
those already made by Schapareli. tend
10 make us feel very much at home on
planet Mars. However, it is necessary
to state that Mr.. LowelFs theories are not
generally received among astronomers as
satisfactorily established at present but
they are well worthy of considerat ton.
The canals are not visible during the
winter season on Mars, but as spring
time advances they make their appearance
as faint dark lines, growing wider, and
| wider. until they are fifty miles across
and then, by way of variety, they double
| In fact single canals have been known to
double themselves literally at days no
/ tGes the w Ill GdIldlS running along SIDE
by side like railroad tracks; only, in this
instance, the railroad tracks are separated
| by distance of over 200 or 300 miles
Some of the canals extend to a distance
varying from 800 to upward of 1000 miles
and appear to be as accurately straight
as lines can be upon a sphere. The canals
seem 10 meet at a number of small snots
| or functions, which have been termed
Takes by Schiapareni, and "oases" by
1 Mr. Lowell. These small spots arc
scattered over the rudy portion of the
planets surface forming a curious net
work with the canals, the spots at The
| junction of the canals being as important
a feature as the canals themselves. Mr.
Lowell assumes that the region intersect-
ed by the canals corresponds to the desert
| region on earth. and that the canals were
apparently constructed for the purpose Of
fertilzing this region and the GASES in the
midst of the wilderness. Therefore. what
we see is not the canal itself, but vege-
| tation along its banks. Yet this does not
| account for a canal doubling itself within
twenty-four hours; for. romance as we