New-York tribune., 1910-01-17
NO CANALS ON MARS

NO CANALS ON MARS
During the autumn OF 1909 the uiar..
Mars was very favorably placed for a.
seryation. as 1t approached us alrnos, :.
it's minimum distance. being morsov..
high above our northern skies. Throuss
the kindness Of DR. Desiandres. membs,
of the French Institute and director a,
the Astro-Physica Observatory Of pa-,,
situated at Meudon. I had the ad,.,
| tage Of studying Mars with the grs.-
| equatorial OF MeUdOn. This instrunsr,
is the third of the giant telescopes" n,
| aperture being thirty-three inches, whn.
the diameter OF the object glass OF m.
Lick Observatory. California. is thirty.
six inches. the Yerkes telescope haviny
forty inches and being the most power.
full in the world. Thus while Amerie,
possesses the two largest refraetor,
I France owns the most powerful telescor.
| In the old World.
/ My observations began on Septem5s-
/ 20 last. and I Immediately found that
| although the 33-inch glass showed tas
/ planet Mars much more detailed than
i
| was no trace. under good seeing. Of a
geometricaI network OF canals. This
/ fact led me TO publish at once note IN
| the Athena" Of Athens. on September
| 2S. TO the effect that the canal network
| was an optical Illusion A week later
| Professor Frost. of the Yerkes Observs-
| tory, quite independently announced
| that the great telescope OF the Chicarp
| University was too powerful for
canals"
The subject IS a very important one
and it should be raised TO unmistaksbls
cIearness for the public 1t was in 1871
that Schiaparelli called attention %
series of dark streaks. furrowing appar-
emily the Martian deserts. and on thsss
markings were seen TO connect the dusky
areas, then considered to be seas. Schia-
parelli called such streaks canals" Yet
he did not commit himself as 70 the nat
ure of these objects. II was soon rec
ognized. however. that bands some -four
thousand miles long and OccasionaIy
two hundred miles broad could not Be
artificial water channels. Professor Z.
f. Barnard. the greatest astronomer Of
our time. although using the large tee-
scopes Of Lick and Yerkes. never saw
any spiders webs on the planet: but his
observations do not entirely dispose ot
SchiapareIlis streaks. since he saw soma
broad. diffuse and irregular bands at tbs
places OF the italian astronomers
canals"
NV own impression confirms the re-
suits arrived at previously by Professor
Barnard The majority OF the canals
appeared 10 me as diffuse. irregular
streaks: vet a considerable number Of
them We're resolved into g{oups CT de-
tached spots. thus showing US that what
appeared as straight line in the modest
Instruments of Schiaparelli assumed
very complex, natural structure IN the
great French telescope Of Meudon. ms
tendency of the planets markings 70
become irregular with an increase Of
aperture is obvious not only IN tns
canals" but also in the sO-called seas,
several of which showed geomerrlcA
forms to the first observers OF Mars, fcr
when we examine a group Of spots at
the limit of visibility and subtendins
very small angle our eye will interpret
the complicated structure. which II can
not define. in the simplest possible way
and will show straight lines and circles
there where nothing Of the kind actuaAy
exists on the object under scrutiny
The Meudon observations led me 70
the following general inferences regard
ing the canals:
planet Mars is a perfectly natural ons'
being comparable with that OF 'n'
moon.
Second-Under good seeing there Is 10
trace whatever OF a geometrical srruc'-
ure, the latter appearing by hashes
lasting fraction of a second, and Nns'
definition is unsatisfactory.
Third-The Martian deserts are vars
gated with innumerabie dusky speu
which are very irregular in outline ana
intensity, and whose sporadicaI groupings
give rise, in small instruments, 10 tns
canal system OF Schiaparelli-
Hence. although there are no "seome'
rical patterns" on Mars, or no senuih'
canals visible. Yet the streaks OF sehi-
aparelIi do have an objective pass
(grCups of dusky spots), and this PASS
can be photographed. That is how N'
hear of the canals being photographs
while we know that We have never seen
a single artificial canal on that planet
The impoSSibility OF the Martlan CANA
network was demonstrated theoreticaiS
by Mr.. Maunder. of the Royal Observa-
tory. Greenwich: by Or. Cerulh pfesi'
dent Of the SOcieta ASTRONOMERS I'an-
ana. and by the great American as
tronOmer, the late Professor Newcom0-
The results OF 1909 now establish tns'
the would-be existence OF artificial can
ais on Mars is further disproved oy tn'
otherwise weighty evidence OF oosersa'
tion. z. NJ. ANTONIADL
Paris. Jan. s, 1910
The views expressed by NJ Antoni-
adj about the canals OF Mars are ec
cepted by almost all the astronomers IN
Europe. but are in contradiction 10 'h'
opinions OF Professor Percival Lo"eAi'
whose most recent descriptions OF wv"
new canals. not new TO US. but new !"
Mars" do not tally with the ooSeNs
tions and Investigations OF other asfron
omers. The observation made under 10
yorable conditions In September oy NJ