Evening star., 1905-11-07
CLOSE RANGE ASTRONOMY.
Similarity Between Mountains Of the
Moon and Those Of Hawaii.

From the New York Sun.
AS soon the possession of telescopes
enabled astronomers to resolve the man
In the moon, his dog, his bush and his
lantern, into mountain peaks and surfaces
of elevation divided by assures and gorges,
the likeness became manifest of the lunar
landscape to the familiar scenes on earth.
From this similarity have arisen the names
of the Mare Tranquilitatis, the Oceanus
Procellarum and the lunar Alps, Apennines
and twoscore separate peaks dotting the
maps of the moon which have been made
for us by the earlier astronomers. Yet in
this similarity the great astronomical
glasses of the present have shown a large
measure of dissimilarity from the average
superficial conditions of the earth. The
factors Of this dissimilarlty are now engag-
Ing the attention of selenographers, and 1t
has seemed feasible to study lunar condi-
tions by those on certain of the larger
islands of Hawaii.
Assuming the dead surface of the moon to
be due to vulcanism preserved from erosion
OF air and water. and the assumption finds
much 10 support it, it was held that the
conditions could be studied at close range
by examination of a dead volcano on earth
where the sculpture of erosive action had
rot yet appreciably altered the surfaces
left by the expiring volcanic action. By
all means the best in fact almost the only
volcanic mass fulfilling the necessary con-
ditions Is the extinct volcano of Haleakala.
This volcano, the House of the SUM-"
as Its name signifies, occupies the south
ern promontory of the island of Maui and
dominates with its cloud cap the many
leagues of sea from which ii Is visible 1t
stands 10000 feet above the surface of the
sea and. as is shown by -soundings off the
shore of Maui, represents a mass of extru-
sion of about five miles in height above
the mean ocean floor, an immensity of al
ttude with which nothing terrestrial can
compare except the towering peaks of
Everest and Kunchinjinga, with the further
exception that in It's own Hawaiian system
the not distant island of Hawaii presents
two peaks of 1900 feet, namely, Mauna
Loa and Mauna Kea, representing an ex-
trusive mass of about six miles from the
sea bed. From the summit wall of HaIeak-
ala the eye rests on crater some 1900 feet
IN depth, from the floor of which, again.
arise cones of the last expiring eruption
which reach In some cases an elevation
of 1900 feet from the lava floor. Seen
from above, this crater is very similar to
many masses revealed upon the moon.
The great altitude of the crater wall of
Haleahala. the considerable distance which
the eye must traverse to reach the crater
floor and the marked configuration of Its
crater cones all combine to render this spot
the laboratory In which study of the forma-
ton of the lunar surface may be prosecuted
than those of astronomy. The highly rare
fled atmosphere Is largely effective in re-
ducing the rradfation of the sunlight and
thus permits the visual effects of the crater
view to approximate closely the seeing on
the moon. The absence of irradiaton is
particularly noticeable under the white
flood OF light cast into the crater by the
moon in it's tropical splendor at full. Then
the shadows and the high lights are
clean cut as those seen on the moon itself,
and the half tones are almost as lacking.
The moonit view down into the crater
depths shows the terminator of the shadow
almost sharply defined in the views
of lunar landscape familiar through the
telescope.
raphy is simple in the extreme. Visual OBJ
servations on the summit wall of Haleak-
ala have established series of gross and
particular resemblances to lunar phenom-
ena. These spots have been measured for
identification, and thus, in making the not
particularly difficult descent to the crater
floor, the astronomers have been able to
place themselves physically upon surfaces
that from a distance of half mile or so
offer to the unaided eye the same appear
ance that the moon presents to the glass
through its 100000 miles.
Nor does the laboratory method cease
with this possibility of close inspection and
gunter's chain mensuration. Haleakala Is
long since dead and cold the stiffened rec
ord of remote forces of extruSion and erup-
tion. On the neighborlng island of Hawaii
these forces are yet active on Mauna Loa
in its two craters OF Kilauea and Moku-
aweoweo. The finished work in Haleakala
may on the other island be identified in its
plastic state, and 1t is possible to observe
any stage of the formative process even
to it's primitive expression In the rolling
masses of lava In the frepit of Kilauea
now in an active state over the whole
tent of the Halema'u 'uma'u.
In an exploration by workers in the field
of astro-physcs this summer a great deal
of work has been done, many Photographic
negatives secured and measurements taken
No report will be made on this survey until
the physicists have subjected their data to
close study. But enough Is known TO make
1t clear that many of the lunar problems
are now In fair way OF settlement.