Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1900-02-15
THE CANALS OF MARS.
Recent Work at the Lowell Observa-
tory.


tory
Foe the first time the zodacal light, one |
of the most dlnicut objects in the sky to !
photograph, has left its impression on the
sensitive plate, says a writer in tho Bos-
ton Transcript who continues: This light
is the faint, haZy illumination reaching
in a stream from the western horizon
nearly up to the zenith in the early
months of the year. In the autumn
months it shows in the carly morning In
the interests covered hereby or mentioned
hereinbctore by the said associations OF
the balance due thereon the sole intent
and ultimate purpose of this agreement
being to restrain, pending the establish
ment of the book value of the interests.
tho payment of the balance Of their Value
and their formal transfer and -gnment,
under this agreement, all and s,Bu,ar, the
parties hereto, from any action concern
ing or disposition of the said interests or
any part thereof, other than contemplated
in the before cited agreement of January
10, 1887, and specifically covered by TINS
supplement thereto in witness whereof,
the parties in interest have signed sealed
and delivered this memorandum OF agree
ment this ----- day of -.
Carnegie Brothers & Company Limited,
Carnegie, Phipps & Company
(Namo of retiring partner.
the cast Owing to the extreme faintness
no photographs have hitherto been made
of it, Although so faint, attempts were
made to photograph it at the Lowell Oh
servatory in Flagstaff, Ar, in the early
part of 1899. the high altitude of that place
and the clearness of the air making l.
perfectly possible to follow the light near
~ to the hoSizon. These attempts were
at once partially successful. After long
trials Mr.. Cogshall, who attended to IN"
details of the work succeeded in obtain
ing perfect photographs of the light as 1t
appeared in the conste lations Aries
Gemni, Leo and Capricornus.
A curious and remarkable change on the
planet Macs, which took place in the
spring of 1897, has been discovered during
the preparation of the second volume OF
Annals of the Lowell Observatory While
in Mexico all regions of the planet were
frequently sec1 and sketched by MIR.
Lowell and Miss Leonard. But finally,
lust before leaving and during the time
that Margaritifer Sinus and Aurorac Sinus
were in view, the detail seen and drawn
by them was entirely unrccOguzablo. To
one skilled in studying such drawings it
is evident that at first the artists failed
utterly to realize what they were draW.ne
and that they then decided they were
drawing some other past of tho planet
When | began studying the drawings IN
the past few months, | supposed at first
that the atmospheric conditions must have
prevented their seeing well, but found
the computed ephcmcris must have been
wrong. thus actuu ~ presenting some
other part of the planet, but by careful
checking it was proved to he absolutely
correct. Having then exhausted all alter
natives the conclusion was unavoidable
that conspicuous markings on the planet
had changed to IA remarkable degree. With
that idea in mind the puzzling drawings
became perfectly clear; the large dark
markings called MarEaritifer Sinus and
Aurorae Sinus had disappeared complete
ly, having only n skeleton of canals which
had formerly been seen as canals in the
dark regions. Tho area covers one ana a
quarters million square miles, or a rector
the same size as the republic of Mexico
or lager than one-third of the United
States
Incidentally. this demonstrated finally
the reality of tho canals seen by us in the
large. dark regions of Mars. whose cXis'
tence has been strongly disputed.
Within the last years several hundred
double stars have been measured and moi
a few have been incidentally discover {
In the progress of this work, although no
specially sought for Mr.. Cogshall, the ob
server, suspects the discovery of rapic
motion in a quadriple star which, If Verl
fed will prove of great importance.
. Many good views Of the GeigensChein
that exceedingly faint light directly oppo
site from the sun, which rises at sunset
/. and sets at sunrise, have been made. and
drawings of streams and lines of stellar
light similar to the Milky Way, fut faint
or. in all parts of the sky. Meteorological
conditions have been observed, as well a.
. the elusive currents seen through tele
, scope in the uppeS' atmosphere. and tests
of the effects of local conditions upon thu
astronomical qualities of the atmosphere
, and measures Of the intricate optical el
: fects Of using big and little telescopes
hoo