Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-08-13

1
| The Brahmins believe that hades is In
the shadow cone of the moon, but even
the part OF the moon in full sunlight Is
dreary and desoate enough for our dear
est enemy.
We See C1.ly One Side.
| SeIeneographers are familiar with about
five-sevenths of the moons surface. That
is, they see more than one-half thu
moons surface during the year. AS the
moon turns on her axis in the same
time that she completes single orbit
of the earth We can see only one side
of her globe. The other side iS perpetu-
ally turned away from the earth But
when the moon is in the southern SIX!
| in the summer, and when it is in the
northern sky in the winter, and when ii
is in the east and in the west the various
changes in position enable US to peek
over the rim, so to phrase it, with the
result we have charted about five
seventies of the moons surface.
1t may surprise many to learn that the
maps of the moon are far more accurate
than the best maps of the earth. A lit
| tie thought will show that this must be
SO. since we have a perspective of the
moon and can see and study and chart al
| least one-half Of her surface at once
| while our actual vision of the earth's sur.
face, even from the highest mountain
/
| it is the marvellous photographs of the
| moon taken at all the great ohservatories
at different times, that prove conclusively
| that physical life as we understand can
not now exist on the moon. That does
not mean that 1t never did, nor that the
moon has always been in her presen,
degraded state. She may have once been
as vital as the earth. but she is now
| truly the Cinderella of the sky and seem
| ingly without hope of any fairy cosmiC
| tbor tn cha
even the now dead and dolorous moor
may be the rough foundation work of a
future blossoming planet.
Tricky Strewn With Craters.
Almost all the visible surface of the
| moon is thickly strewn with what we
are pleased to term 'craters, the exist
ence of which is usually attributed to
volcanic action in the moon itself. But
| these "craters" make our greatest vol
canoes seem like pin pricks. To me the
| craters have always seemed like the re-
suit of external heat blistering the sur
| face of the moon turned toward the
earth. as if in some eternity old epoch
| the earth was a huge globe of mean
! descent fire and the moon so close to l,
| that it suffered accordingly IL the moon
| be really lesser planet captured by the
| earth in some far-off time We might con-
| ceive an era of destruction that Is ap'
palling. The moon. equipped with at.
mosphere, water and land, is drawn out
Of it's previous orbit by the superior at
| traction Of the earth. aided, possibly, by
the same cosmic catastrophe that caused
| the planetoids. and swings into an orbit
about the glowing earth. This orbit may
| have been much nearer than the present
| one of the moon. The tremendous heat
to which the moon-planet was exposed
first dissipated its atmosphere, next re
| duced it's water to vapOr, then dtsstpatec
| that vapor. into which. by the very ma
ture of things, all organic life had beer
| dissolved, and then reduced the inorganic
| substance of the moon planet to plastic
heated mass. This globular mass, contin
uing to revove in the great heat OF thu
primal earth, gradually cooled as thu
earth cooled and left record OF thi!
| last state in the "craters,' those titanic
| blisters that pit the present surface Of
| the moon.
| Most of the lunar craters have in theil
| center a sharp cone. Encircling this
usually at a great distance, is the rim
of the crater 1t does not seem reason
| able that such huge rims could be dis
| eorged from such small center cones
Other craters look as If they were de
pressions in the mean surface Of the
| moon One is struck by the fact tina
| they look as If they were the result Of
4 moon at great speed and splattering ovel
1.-the surface. In some cases craters over
lap each other. looking much as II two
| meteors OF great size had struck the
| moon near the same point
Bombarded With Huge Meteors.
| IL one examines photograph of tine
| moon, he will be struck by the fact
| that the major surface OF the moor
seems smooth and round as billiard
bali and that the craters seem imposed
on this smooth surface. For all the world
as if one took smooth metal globe anc
| shot putty bulls al il with Sreat force
| The plastic putty will spatter in muc.
| the same Way as the craters seem &c
| splatter. One of the greatest craters or
| the moon is TycnO. in the southern hem
extend straight RAYS" giving the whole
the appearance OF being the result OF g
| great meteor striking the moon with suf'
ficient force to fracture its surface. The
rays seem filled with materia different
! from that composing the smooth body Of
| the moon. AS il. at the time of the &C
| cident the moon had hard shell. cover
| ing molten interior. and the impact OF
| the meteor was sufhcient to crack thi.
| outer hard shell and cause the moltcr
| the cracks.
| The craters OF the moon may be due tt
! either of these two causes or to both OF
| them Mechanically these causes would
seem to be more apt 10 produce the re.
| suits actually visible OH the moon thar
| lunar volcanic eruptions. I can find OBJ.
| jections to some Of my own theories al
we'll as others. and the greatest objection
| to the meteoric bombardment theory Is
the regular circularity and ovality Of the
| craters 1t would seem that the meteors
must have all hit the moon head on
Yet some of the ranges look like q
| slancing blow, ard one cannot escape
from the conclusion that the craters
seem piled up on an originally smooth
globe. rather than elected from below by
| volcanic action.
| A Supreme Contrast.
| No greater contrast exists in our solar
/ system than that of the live earth and
| the dead moon. apparently eterually
| linked in companionship. That lenrous