Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-09-17

as strong as full moonlight This glorious
moon would be seen to pass through its
phases, lust as does Our satellite; but in re-
verse order, for the earth appears full moon
during the lunar night and new moon at
lunar midday.
Wonders of the Landscape
I EFT us turn our attention. however, from
the lunar sky to the scenery of the lunar
landscape as it comes into view after sun
rise. Evening after evening as | watched
the sunlight creeping over valley and plain,
illuminating the Jagged outlines of rugged
craters, realized how Calico must have
been impressed when he turned the first
telescope ever made in the direction of this
distant world For him the vast plains
were seas and oceans and bays, resembling
such formations on the earth. and later they
were named by such fanciful titles as the
Sea of Serenity, the Sea of Tranquility, the
Lake of Dreams, the Bay of Rainbows, and
the Ocean of Storms. Yet. as a matter of
fact, these so called seas are only plains
which may have been seabeds in the days of
long ago, when the moon was passing
through the earlier stages of its career. Ow-
ing to the absence of air and water there is
not a sign of life or vegetation on the moon;
not a tree, flower or even a blade of
grass. to relieve the drcary mOnotony OF
boundess plain, mountain height, or yawn-
ing chasm.
There is desolation as we'll as grandeur in
the scene, as the tips of lofty ridges sur
rounding extinct craters CLEAN golden in the
sunlight, broadening momentarily like a
circle of golden stars, indicating the peaks
athwart which the sun is shining, while the
craters within are plunged in the darkness
of night. Looking down on these dark
abysses, one realizes how unearthly and
weird is lunar landscape as compared with
such scenes on earth,-the harsh. glowing
light on the heights above, the awful gloom
of the depths below, and overhead the
blackness of the surrounding sky, which,
owing to the absence of light iffusing vapor
must be darker than that with which we are
familiar upon the finest of moonless nights.
And this blackness prevails in the iull blaze
OF the lunar MONDAY sun.
As the sun rises higher and higher above
the lunar horizon, the shadows of the Alps,
Apennines, and other mountainous regions
on the moon stand out in black relief on the
surface of the plain below. Along and be-
yond the tcrminator are brilliant point
floating like isles of light in sea of gloom,
the tips of mountain ridges glistening in the
sunlight. Finally the noble ring of terraces
and distinct heights separated by ravines,
which outline The magnificent crater of Co
pernicus, come into full view, and the lunar
scene is at the zeni III of its glory Slowly
the numerous streaks and light rays sur
rounding this gigantic crater are revealed,
and the shadows creep up the side of the
circular rampant until they are gradually
effaced in the bright glare of sunlight.
Climax of Splendor
IN the eleventh evening the climax may
- be said to have been reached, as the Bay
of Rainbows, semicircular in form and sur
rounded by chain of gigantic mountains
termed the Rainbow Highlands, came into
view. Though no waves ripple on the sur
face of the bay, nor breakers dash in spray
at the foot of the bordering mountains, yet
the scene is well calculated to arouse the en-
thusiasm of even the most Indifferent, when
gazing on it, as did, through the great lens
of the fortv-inch telescope, which brings the
moon within one hundred miles. In mag
ination | stood on the shores of the bay
looking upward at the towering mountains,
with the lofty peak of Cape Heraclides at
one end and Cape Laplace at the other
The latter cleaned like beacon light fash
ing warning to venturcsome mariners, the
warning being emphasized for the lonely
watcher in this case by the wind bowling
round the dome Its sobbing and signing
seemed a mournful though suitable accom-
paniment to the scene of desolation viewed
through the telescope within.