The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1904-06-12
TO STUDY MOONS CRATERS
FROM THOSE OF, THE EARTH
of HARvARp UNvERs,Ty STARTS
INTERESTING UNDERTAKING. Top.t-sArr,,rrrs OF
VARIOUS PLANETS INVESTIGATED

Cambridge, June 11.-Tomorrow
Professor william H. Pickering OF the
Harvard Astronomical Observatory,
whose Atlas of the Moon" published
a few months ago has excited such in
terest here and in England, starts on a
four months trip to carry on inyesti-
cations which will supplement the
many years of study he has already de-
voted to the moon. He will at the
1 same time have an opportunity more
nearly to complete other branches of
his work which have been brought as
far as is possible on the Atlantic sea-
| board.
What has particularly interested
people in Professor chickering's Lunar
atlas is the seemingly inevitable con-
clusion one gets from 1t that in GER
tain way climatic conditions on the
| moon are like those of the earth Much
of the evidence that has led to this
conclusion was derived from the many
remarkable lunar photographs mad6 by
| the Harvard astronomers in Jamaica.
where Professor William Pickering de-
voted nearly year exclusively to this
work, and at the Observatory's South
ern station in Arequipa. Peru. It Is
partly with the purpose of comparing
what he has seen through the. tele-
scope and recorded with the camera
with things to be found on our globe
that Professor Pickering undertakes
the present Journey.
His first step looks like an odd one
for an astronomer. 1t will be at Pitts
| burg, where the atmosphere is less
clear perhaps than in almost any other
part of the United States. But 1t is
not for observation of the heavenly
bodies that the city of smelters and
Wi he xyfGit nj
ways have noticed that the Stag from
iron ore in cooling frequently takes on
forms that closely resemble the era
ters of the moon. Mr.. Pickering wants
to satisfy himself on the question
whether the two formations may not
result from similar elements and pro-
cesses.
From Pittsburg Professor Pickering
goes on to the Yerkes Observatory
where he is going to look for the ninth
satellite of Saturn. the existence OF
which is well established but which no
man has ever yet been able to see
through the telescope. Professor Pick
ering discovered II several years ago in
an examination of the Harvard OBJ
servatory's collection 1T stellar photo
graphic negatives. From a series of
these. which thus far furnish the only
evidence OF its existence, he has been
able to construct very exactly the
body's orbit. BY means of the big
telescope at Yerkes-the most power
full in this country-following his dia-
gram by which he can locate the posi-
ton of the object on any night. he
hopes to catch a glimpse of this ninth
moon of Saturn which goes circling
about the planet outside of its other
attendants.
In order to get the clearest possible
atmosphere through which to continue
the observations recorded in his atlas,
Professor Pickering Will visit Lowe
Observatory on Echo Mountain near
Pasadena in southern California. On
the Atlantic seaboard the quivering of
the atmosphere. though this is not
visible to the naked eye. becomes so
apparent through the telescope as seri-
ously to interfere with yhe distinctness
of observations; in California the see
Ing" to use an astronomers phrase, is
remarkably good, and this difficulty
hardly appears. There Mr.. Pickering
will study more particularly two of the
moons volcanic craters. Eratosthenes
and Plato.
The crater Eratosthenes, having
diameter of 81 miles, affords the best
possible opportunity for observing the
changes in the appearance of the
earth's satellite. the explanation of
which in the Pickering atlas has given
rise to so much discussion. Briefly
stated. these peculiarities are the ap-
pearance and disappearance of ice and
snow in several of its volcanic craters
and the evidences of the existence of
vegetation. His moon photographs
covering the lunar day from sunrise
to sunset, which is equivalent to IA of
our terrestrial days, show patches of
white in some places and dark spots
in others, the former lessening, in