Amador ledger. (Jackson, Amador County, Calif.) 1875-19??, 1906-08-03
Interesting Notes About the Moon.

Interesting Notes About the Moon.
Our moon has the distinction of
being the largest of all planetary
satellites; so large, indeed. says the
Strand Magazine, that to the inhabit-
ants of Mars it must appear with the
earth as a wonderfully beautiful twin
planet.
Because the moon rotates on it's
axis in exactly the same time that it
revolHes around the earth we are
destined to see little more than one
hemisphere. So slow is this rotation
that the lunar day is equal to fifteen
OF our days. For half month the
moon Is exposed to the fierce heat of
the sun; for half a month it spins
through space in the densest gloom.
Although separated from US by
distance that at times reaches 253, 600
miles, and is never less than DO. 900
miles, we know more of the physical
formation of the single palIid face
that the moon ever turns toward us
than we know of certain parts of Asia
and the heart of Africa. Powerful
telescopes have brought our satellite
within distance of forty miles of
the earth. Physicists have mathemat-
ically weighed it and fixed its mass
at e-eightieth of the earth, or 49,
600, 600, 600, 900 tons.
Rent by Fires Long Dead.
The muon presents aspects without
any terrestrial parallel. Rent by fires
long since dead, its honeycombed
crust seems like great globe of
chilled Stag. Craters are not I'M
common on the earth, but in Der,
size, and structure they bear, for the
most part, little mblance to those
of the moon.
lunar crater is not the mouth of
a volcano having diameter of few
hundred feet, but great circular
plain twenty-five, even 100 miles in
diameter, surrounded by precipice
rising to height of 500 or 10, 900
feet, with central hill or two about
half as high.
Water can not possibly exist as a
liquid; for the temperature of the
moons surface during the long lunar
night is probably not far from AGO
degrees below the zero mark of a
Eo hronhnrf I1
atmospheric pressure is so low that
gas under pressure would solidity as
it escaped. leo and snow are the
forms, then, which lunar water must
assume.
Because of the present paucity of
water the moons atmosphere is so
exceedingly rare that startling effects
are produced. Perhaps the most
striking is that of the sunrise. Dawn
and the soft golden glow that usher
in terrestrial day there can not be.
The sun leaps from the horizon
flaming sickle, and the Ioft1er peaks
immediately flash into light.
There is no azure sky to relieve the
monotonous effects of inky black
shadows and dazzling white expanses.
The sun CLEANS IN fierce splendor,
with no clouds to diffuse its binding
light. All day long it is accompanied
by the weird zodiacal light that we
behold at rare intervals.
Heavens Black at Midday.
Even in midday the heavens are
pitch black, so that, despite the sun
light, the stars and planets CLEAN
with brightness that they never
EXHIBIT to us even on the clearest of
moonless nights at sea. They shine
steadily, too; for it is the earth's
atmosphere that causes them to
twinkle to our eyes.
In the line of sight it is impossible
to estimate distances, for there is no
such phenomenon as aerial perspect-
I've. Objects are seen only when the
rays of the sun strike them.
At times there may be observed
spots which darken after sunrise and
gradually disappear toward sunset
They can not be caused by shadows;
for shadows would be least visible
when the sun is directly overhead.
They appear most quickly at the
equator, and invade the higher
attitudes after lapse of few days.
In the polar regions they have never
been seen. What are they? Organic
life resembling vegetation, answers
Prof. Pickering of Harvard univer-
sity; vegetation that tlourishes
luxuriantly while the sun shines
and withers at night.
A single day, it may be urged, Is
not efficiently long for the develop
ment and decay of vegetation; but
sixteen hours on the moon Is little
more than half an hour on the earth;
day lasts half month, and may be
regarded as a miniature season. -