Bryan morning eagle. [volume] (Bryan, Tex.) 1898-1909, 1907-11-24
IS MARS INHABITED?
RIpDlG ASTRONOMER WILL rav
TO SOLVE.
Prot. Todd, % Amherst, Sails fss
South America Where Planet viii
y studied from Nigh
Peaks os Andes.

new IOrk.-Iuo IIooeo OF the pIauot
Mars may DO brought nearer soiu.
siou BY the Lowell expedition. headed
~ Prof. Todd. Of Amherst college.
.ow enroute TO South America. where.
Aigh in the peaks OF the Andes. pho
.ographs OF the mysterious planet
GILL be taken through q mammoth tele-
scope by . specially constructed cam
sra When these photographs are de-
seloped the question that puzzled Sir
william Herrchel and later caused
Prof. Percivai Lowell. OF the Mnssa-
chusctts Institute of Technology. to
spend n fortune In astronomical OBJ
servations In the high altitude OF
Flagstaff. Ariz.. may be an open book
to science.
rs Mars inhabited and are
those strange markings which rsdi-
ate In seeming design from the polar
caps where the supposed Marian
sras exist artificial or natural?"
Those two questions are the astro-
ocmical problems which the little ex'
pedition he'd by Prof. David Todd, sail.
ing recently for South America on the
steamer Panama. hopes to answer at
east In part. Prof Todd is accom-
panied by his wife. who Is also an as
fronomer. and with them Is pho
tographer. mechanician and an
Amherst student
Prof. Todd would not say that ne
expected 10 see race OF Martians
suilding skyscrapers. digging subways
and otherwise employing themselves
ike their earthly neighbors. In fact
1e would not commit himself as TO
ais belief whether there Is race OF
people on the planet. which will be
only 3c.009,0 600 miles away In June.
I'VE are going TO South America In
the hope OF getting tho facts. said
Todd before his departure. and to OBJ
tain Information on the question OF
che Marian canals. We have taken
with us the 1s.inch telescope .; Am
nerss observatory and camera cspe-
.-ialiy designed for photographing the
planet. This will be the largest telc-
scope ever used In South America
and after we have selected some
high point In the Andes where the at
mosphcre Is clear and steady we will
mount our telescope and begin opera
tons
Prof Todd spent three uncomforta-
ole days In New York just before sail.
ing trying TO find his missing telescope.
which was on board vagtant freight
car In the railroad yards and declined
20 be found until the last minute. The
professor said he hoped To have less
6ifnculty In fndIng the Marian canals.
Speaking OF the plans Of the expedi-
tion. Prof. Todd said:
From Panama we win proceed to
Lima. Peru, and from there ascend
Is 900 feet In the Andes. where the Mt.
mosphere In noted for It's clearness
and steadiness. The high-power
lenses which We win use magnify the
air AID It's vibrations the same num-
Der Of times rs the object upon which
the telescope IL focused. and In the
Andes We viii have little vibration TO
interfere with the observations.
I'VE will first test the air with
small telescope. and after deciding on
the best spot for our work We VIII
rnount the large telescope. II neces-
sary we win take these observations
IN the high deserts OF northern Chill.
Later ON we will observe the annular
eclipse of the sun. which takes place
July 10"
Mars viii be close to the earth In
June. after which the planet viii not
approach again until 1909. when she
win draw still nearer to the earth.
being $4,000 900 miles away. Then
for IS years the planet win swing too
distant for definite observation and
not until 1894 viii astronomers again
be able to study the wonderful series
OF canals" which puzzle the scientific
world.