The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-02-25
NEWS FROM NEIGHBoR MARS
Clouds That Tell the Way Wind'
Blow Up There

Lowell. Observatory. flagstaff \ riZ.-The
phenomenon on Mars which has given rise
planet on December : of last year was
rez uy only cloud On that planet lighted
I'D y the setting sun. IL was a true mes
sIge, giving Us knowledge of Marian ell
mate, but not message from any intelii-
gent inhabitants a great number of
clouds of this kind have been seen in pre-
vioUs years, but no2e. L believe, for the
last four. and, therefore, this one. coming
as Il did IN one particular part OF the
planet. was a matter Of great interest. and
/ teIegraphed Information about it TO the
East. where il was distributed to all as
tronomers and to many others interested
Astronomers almost never see clouds on
the SunIJ portions of the planet II they
exist as thin cirrus clouds we should per
haps be unable to see them. Heavy clouds
if they cover = large area Of the planet
would be visible They would have to
cover perhaps 4 million square miles be
fore they could be recognized with GER
IainIy- But on this earth they cover far
more area than that, and therefore, as we
do not see them on Mars at all, we con-
clude that the planet is extremely dry.
As matter or TACT, II has no oceans and
10 surfaces that are positively Identified
as permanent water surfaces. Som OBJ
servers even doubht that the planet is
warm enough 10 permit the existence Of
water The only two indications Of water.
however, are in the polar caps Of snow
and the clouds. such as this one, which
become visible TO US the sun sets on
AAit SE4y1l fAsftNE " nth AiFN tbdt- uESG
clouds stand above such regions like the
peaks OF high mountains, and receive the
lass rays OF the setting sun, when all be-
meath Is dark They therefore appear TO
us as bright spots against a dark back
ground or as bright points extending
from the Sunlit portion Of the planet out
| into The region Of night.
| The first observation Of 4 phenomenon Of
| this kind WAS made al the Lick CbSerVa-
/ tory in 1890 A few were seen in 1892 at a
! number Of observatories- Over three hun
/ dred and fifty were observed and studied
/ at this observatory IN 1894, and many were
seen in 1896 The result Of the study OF
! several hundred Of them IS given in vol
ume Of the Annals Of the Lowell OBJ
+ servatory-' BY that research 1t became
j evident that many Of them formed at sun
! set Ia character they We're probably ike
! our dense cumuiOuS clouds Their aver
! age elevation was much greater than our
J cumul0us clouds being several miles on
! an average. and one was seen at least as
/ nigh as fifteen miles above the surface
! that Of November % 1884 In that case
I the cloud was seen near the sunrise terTni-
( nator, ii i called that Is the mort h
/ and south line on the planet at which the
I sun was rising. II We We're searching for
/ signals, the cloud Of November o. 1894
would He q very much more striking case
1 thHn anything seen before or since On
/ the night OF November > this cloud va
/ seen as d white spot aginst The dark back
: ground Of the uuIl-U1nIned surface be
. meath 1t was hundred miles across and
/ a least fifteen miles above the surface,
! II remained in that point over half an
{ hour then suddenly disappeared. The
: hTSt appearance lasted sixteen minutes:
. then Il disappeared; IL came again for
I only moment, and after six minutes
/ more II again disappeared Tor TWO and
OLe-haf minutes Then followed an = H.
seuCe OF three minutes presence for two
minutes. absence for three minutes. pres
ence one minute, absence eight minutes
and an appearance torty-six minutes after
4 the first sight OF il.
/ II some genius can prove thar rhf-z Nora
I & series of signals from Mars II would b+.
) a matter Of the greatest Importance. Nv
: own belief Is that IL was a message from
{ Mars not from inhabitants of the sur
! face, but from the clouds which inhabit its
/ atmosphere They were giving Us an illus
traJlon Of the eject on them Of sunlight
: and showing US how they form and dIsap-
! pear with its absence and presence
The cloud which was observed on De
8 cembeT and gave US also q scientific
/ message Of great Importance 1t was seen
I on those TWO successive mornings and
! lasted for an hour each time II was les=
F. on the second morning. as If the moisture
4 had been dissipated, or had been used in
/ some way so that II could not condense
4 into visible clouds II formed above the
/ deserts on the north side Of a large dark
/ marking on the planet. Icarium Mare
! which IS supposed to be vegetation. This
/ is significant in TWO ways First il cor
rOboraIes our idea that the dark mark
ings are vegetation by showing. as we
should expect, that the regions of Vegeta-
. lIDt4 I'd NG more moisture IN them tn3U the
surrounding regions, which are desert
Second. 1t appeared on the north sid Of
the dark marking, showing that there
/ must nave been a motion II the air from
the south That is al this point on tbs
/ equator in season which CORRESPONDS
/ with our April q. the wind was from the
south At that time the sun was about
y degrees north Of the equator and the
point beneath most heated by the sun was
therefore north also, and the wind was
| blowing toward that point This Is exactIy
what we find on the earth in the case NJ
the trade winds. which blow toward ths
heat equator And so we have recefy rf
the most interesting Information that in
these zones at least the wind on Mars anf
on the earth blow IN the same direction
Knowing. then. that such similarity ex-
lists. scientists can advance with conf.
dence from knowledge Of our oqr
weather conditions 10 those on Mars They
/ have the satisfaction of knowing thai
their theories are nos pure speculation
/ This. then. is the important MESA q
which We have received from Mars