Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1907-09-06
PHOToeRAPHINe MARS.
Just nj Present the Conditions Are
Unusually Favorable Say Experts

Il
W most fascinating OF oh alstro-
nomical questions - whether
other sphcrcs I'm the universe beside
ours are the home of aentiont beings
| is brought anew to popular attention
/ bv "a celestial incident announced TOT
the current month So far os Is known
the planet on which the conditions are
presumably most favorable TO hani-
| liability ls Mars and opportunities for
studying it are therefore utilized Win
peculiar interest The orbit OF Mals
/ lies outside that Of the earth, ana ny
| Intervals slightly exceeding two years
! the earth catches up with and passes
/ lts slower uciEhhor. When lne wv"
are on "a direct line from the sun, Mars
| is.s3id 90 Dc I'm opposition 20 the SUM-
! owing Co the ecCcnulcity OF tne p"lh
/ followed by Mars. however it's distance
/ from tho earth at some opposiuons y
as great as 60,0o0,0O0 miles, whle "'
/ others 10 ls not more than 35.ooNVVu'
/ THE imposition scheduled for July d.,
/ 1907. was the most advantageous in tnls
/ respect for 10 years, and WIZ
/ --f o.. r.HtDlcd for anoihef
15 The two bodies are now
/ running along almost side by slAe'
/ auu I'd che mysteries lu which lhe tuv
dy orb uoxt beyond the earth ts cloud
/ ga are not dispeied by the study or lhe
/ last few and next few weeks. at least
] tine present chance for penetrating
] them viii Doe mequaled Tor lonE
! time
II is believed that the climate OF
/ Mars closely resembles that OF inc
! earth Tho axes of the Two noui'7
are tilted over At about the sun
! angle. too. and there ls evidence or
regular succession Of seasons on Mars,
/ the most conspicuous perhaps ptlhh
! the systematic white patches. hrst aO
/ one pr % ana then at the other Ines.
repre- emit the condensation ireeZlnb ana
I melting of some fluid, possibly ''h"Ws1
/ not certainly water. 10 is suspected
/ that there IS also an atmosphere less
! dense and more quiet than the eiIth
Z but sufficient 90 establish clfculallen
between poles and tropics. Aiier lne
melting of the polar SHOWS the result
ing liquid might be distributed 10y
cravitation alone, but when 70 eVapor-
ates I'm slow attitudes some sort ol
vehicle seems 90 be necessary 70 Bet
/ &c back to tho poles again. 10 IS that
argument rather than any direct eve
deucc Oike that or the spectroscopey
which justices the belief that Mars
| has at least little air,
The surface Of the body which rs now
receiving keen scrutiny is sufficiently
| diversified 90 tempt observers lhlo
l charting fits geography so that various
| localities can be identified In any DIS
cussion. For "a long time there was
/ thought 10 Doe close resemblance I'D
the earth iu the distribution of lana
and water In the northern hemisphere
the color was generally Of rusty yell
/ low or brown though subject 20 numer-
ous minor variations of tint, while IN
the southern hemisphere the prevailing
hue is gray or green. The areas nfst
mentioned were, therefore, regarded ~
continental and the latter as marine
and the subdivisions were labeled ac-
| cordnulv. The names originally adopt
/ ed are still retained 0s matter or
! convenience but the notion that there
are oceans or lakes is now pretty well
discrcditei The dlssImilarity IN 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 Oh Doe added that IN pra'-
ucaly all the pictures made Of Mar
and this is true especially OF draw
I iugs-there is an unintentional but
/ great eXacgerati0u of the contrast or
! color and brightness Of adjacent tracts.
| The graduation OF tint Us often so DELE
cate that q Is almost Impossible 70
| tell where the dividing inc Is that SCI
| parates a gray patch from It's yellow
environment. Efforts % record gem
eral contours are besct with pccu-
liar difficulty the more 50 because
from one opposition 10 the neXt-tn
| a period OF fully two years-real DIFF
/ fererces FOO both tint and outline un-
| quostionably occur. Indeed. these
/ changes are often more sudden and
/ transient
Prof william II. Pickering. AZ one
time on duty at Pcrcival TDwclfs oh
| servatory az Flagstaff Ariz., reported
| a few years ago that within period
| scarcely exceeding month be no.
I ticod that "a peculiar area which ne
was Watching was succe ssively gray,
green, blue. brown and violet. I'm the
| distiuctness OF the large markings of
! the surface Of Mars. therefore, the
/ vast majority OF the available illus
/ trations are misleading.
The most puzzling and most sug-
restive feature OF the planet which
/ has been named after the god Of war
Is the network of fine lines which
! SchioporelI % Milan called canals
/ though carefully dlsavoWing any IN
/ toution to Interpret them by the use
/ Of that resignation. The Italian
created "a profound sensation about
| 90 years ago by reporting his discovery,
! and his announcement was received
/ with skepucism by his professional
/ brethren, tls more so because no
/ coupled with DO the statement that &C
/ times some % the lines appeared dou-
/ BILE other astronomers have followed
/ mp his work. the most attention having
been given 20 lt by Pcrclyal Lowell OF
! Boston. 10 whose observatory az Flag
/ stan reference has just been made. Up
l 90 the present several hundred NJ these
| lines have been reported and charted.
/ though 10 is not alleged that they are
] an visible M one time. Tn fact
/ schiaparclu remarked in a treatise
| which appeared I'm 1883 that in dis
/ uuctuces. color1tlon. width and other
/ traits the canals showed remarkable
/ differences from time DO time. Some
/ times they could not be- seen where
/ they were expected 10 be- "Simois."
/ ma remarked could not b. detected AZ
/ all lu september 1871 II existed ~
| fine line lu October. In 1879 al exhibit
| cd "a breadth and blacluoss rivaliug
/ Nii0svrua' Uho biggest 40 ai the cam
| alD. and having width estimated az
| about 100 miles
when tloy first develop the canals
! constitute discernlhle gray lines ny
/ degrees. ~ is said. they grow in dark
/ ness and iWluess. They are NOT uni-
! form boo size. seldom measuring less
| than 1E Or 30 miles across often exc
/ Ctcdlng 800 ana occasionally reaching
/ 100 or 125. when doubling or gene
| nation" is observed the space be-
/ tween the two lines ls something's aa
| narrow as 30 or 40 miles Both schi-
/ aparDlII and Lowcll put the maximum
/ interval at between 100 and ms miles.
/ Lowell hls noted at the intersections
] n two canals round Or oval spots, OF
/ the Fam' dark hue as the canals. Tie
] calls tnrU GASES