Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1907-09-06
PHOTOGRAPHIC MARS.


\
W most fascinating OF an alstro-
nomical questions -- whether
other spheres in the universe beside
ours are the home OF scntient beings
is brought anew to popular attention
by celestial incident announced for
the current month So far as is known
the planet on which the conditions are
presumably most favorable 20 habi-
liability is Mars. and opportunities for
studying % are therefore utilized with
peculiar interest The orbit Of Mars
lies outside that OF the earth, and %
intervals slightly exceeding two years
the earth catches up with and passes
its slower ucighbor When the two
are on direct line from the sun. Mars
is said 10 be ''in opposition 90 the sun.
owing TO the ccccntricity OF the path
followed by Mars. however. its distance
from the earth at some opposiuous is
as great as 60.OOO.O0O miles, while at
others IL is not more than 35,O0OO0o
/ The opposition scheduled for July IL,
1907 was the most advantageous iu this
respect for NJ years, and viii
.Hf hH rrHtchnd for another
10. The two bodies are now
running along almost side by side,
aud it the mysteries ln which the rud-
dy orb next beyond the earth IS cloud
cd are not dispeued by the study Of the
last Few and next few weeks. at least
the present chance for penetrating
them will be unoQualed for long
time
II Is believed that the climate Of
Mars closely resembles that Of the
earth. Tho axes of the two bodies
are tilted over AZ about the same
angle. too. and there Us evidence OF
urfnHfaaefUfn MlTNs
the most conspicuous perhaps being
the systematic white patches, hrst AT
one pole and then az the other. These
represent the condemnation freezing ana
melting OF some fluid, possibly Cthough
not certainly water IL IS suspected
that there as also an atmosphere less
dense and more quiet than the carth's
but sufficient 60 establish a circulation
between poles and tropics. After the
melting Of the polar SHOWS the result
ling liquid might be distributed by
gravitation alone. but when 10 evapor-
ates in slow attitudes some sort Of
vehicle seems TO be necessary TO get
70 back to the poles again. To is that
argument rather than any direct EVIL
denco 0ike that Of the spectroscope)
which justlQos the belief that Mars
has at least a little air.
The surface OF the body which is now
receiving keen scrutiny is sufficiently
diversified 20 tempt observers INTO
charting It's geography 50 that various
localities can he Identified I'm any dis
cussion. For a long time there was
thought % De "a close resemblance 10
the earth in the distribution OF land
and water. I'm the northern hemisphere
the color was generally Of rusty yell
low or brown Though subject TO numer-
Gus minor variations Of tint, while in
the southern hemisphere the prevailing
hue is a gray or green. The areas FIRST
mentioned were, therefore, regarded az
continental and the latter as marine.
and the subdivisions were labeled ac-
cordmelv. The names originally adopt
ed are stu retained as n matter OF
convenience. but the notion that there
are oceans or lakes is now pretty well
discredited. The dissimilarity I'm color
may eventually be explained on the
theory that some areas are covered by
vegetation while others reveal sandy
deserts or bare rock.
II ought o. be added thar I'm prac-
tlcally an the pictures made " MarS
and this Isl true especially OF draw
ings-there IS an unintentional but
great exaggeration Of the contrast of
color and brightness OF adjacent tracts
The graduation OF tint Is often so deli
cate that Il IS almost impossible 20
tell where the dividing limo rs that Sc
parates gray patch from It's yellow
environment Efforts to record gem
liar difficulty, the more so because
from one opposition 10 the next-in
n period OF fully two years-reai diff
ferences IN both tint and outline UNI
questionably occur Indeed, these
changes are often more sudden and
transient.
Prof william II. Pickering. az one
time on duty M Percival Iowelrs oh
servatory at Flagstaff. Ariz.. reported
a few years ago that within period
scarcely exceeding month he mo-
ticcd that a peculiar area which he
was watching was successfully gray.
green. blue. brown and violet. Tn the
distiuctness Of the large markings Of
the surface Of Mars, therefore, the
vast majority OF tho available Illus
tratious are misleading.
The most puzzling and most sug-
has been named after the god Of war
Is the network Of fine lines which
SchiapereH Of Milan called canals
though carefully disaYoWlng any In
tentlou TO interpret them by the use
of that resignation. The italian
created profound sensation about
90 years ago by reporting his discovery,
and his announcement was received
with skcpticism by his professional
brethren tn mOrs so because he
coupled with 10 the statement that az
times some Of the lines appeared dou-
Die. Oinfr ASTRONOMERS nave ANlINh tA
MP his work. the most attention having
been given 10 10 by Perclval Lowell OF
Boston. 70 whose observatory az Flag
stan. reference has just been made. Up
10 the present several hundred NJ these
lines have been reported and charted,
though 10 is not alleged that they are
am visible at one time. In fact
SchlaparelH remarked in treatise
which appeared An 1855 that I'm dis
unctncgg. coloratlon. width and other
traits the canals showed remarkable
differences from time to time. Some
times they could not be seen where
they were expected 10 be "Simois"
ha remarked "could not be detected az
AM On September, 1871 n existed as
nno line On October In 1879 az exhibit
od "a breadth and blaCknoss rivaling
Nil0svrtis" Cthe biggest ~ an the can
als). and having "a width estimated az
about 100 miles.
when thoy FIRST develop the canals
constitute dlscernihle gray lines BY
degrees. n is said they grow in dark
ness and vlddness. They are not uni
form ln size, seldom measuring less
than Ne or 30 miles across, often exc
CCcdug 30 ana occasionally reaching
100 or 1876 When doubling or gem
nation" ls observed the space be-
tween tho twO lines "a sometimes ms
narrow as 30 or 40 miles Both Schi-
aporcIn and Lowell put the maximum
interval a. between $50 and i7j miles.
Lowell has noted at the intersections
~ two canals round or oval spots, %
the same dark hue as the canals. He