Evening journal., 1921-09-02
VOLCANO
! CONESON MOON
Astronomer Sets
! Theory Earth's Satellite
is Not Entirely Dead
BASES ASSUMPTION
ON CHANGES NOTED

scriveu Bolton, the well-known
English astronomer. acting upon
scattered observations Of his own
and Of other astronomers, sets forth
the theory that the moon is not dead,
as has long been supposed, but that
some Of its mountains at least are
volcanoes in active eruption
Writing in the Illustrated London
News he recalls that the lunar crater
known TO us as Lime was Of mod
crate dimensions when described by
Riccioli in 1861: when Schroeder ex-
amined it in 17SS he reported It toI
be "a very small. round, white, brill
liant spot. containing a somewhat
uncertain depression
In 1910 Lohrman found 1t to be
a very deep crater and more than
four miles in diameter. Maedlor
found 1t six miles in diameter a few
years later and Schmidt confirmed
this measurement in 1S43, but in
1866 found that Lime had entirely
disappeared from view. Today Lime
is visible as crater only three
quarters OF a Illlt ANIOcr aAAA AAn
size is apparently shrinking.
In the much studied region called
Plato incessant changes are taking
mace among the many small craters
scattered over It. Continuous OBJ
servation. especially by Prof. W. II.
Pickering, shows that only about
half these craters are visible at any
one time, the invisible ones being
dbscured by a white cloud. which
gradually dissipates and leaves them
1dsible again. At least one OF these
lhtle craters has been formed since
Ffof. Pickering began his observa-
tions.
prof. Pickering has made a sig
nifcant discovery in the region
KNOWN as Schroeter's Valley, where
The conditions at certain times of the
NTunar day resemble an active terres-
.,trlal volcano. Dense clouds appar-
laently issue from the valley and roll
away on TO the adjacent plain. The
iseruptive force here is comparable to
'sthat of Vesuvivus when displaying
maximum activity.
These cloud masses from Schroe-
ster's Valley and the Plato craterlets
|aare not improbably streams Of gas
issuing from volcanic vents and from
Surface assures. Mingled with ice
acrystals they might form actual
Iaclouds in the atmosphere. The
density of the lunar atmosphere a
mile or two above the surface prob
ably does not exceed a ten-thous-
n,andth part that OF our own, although
in the low-lying regions it Is un-
l4doubtedly more dense.
~ In substantiating the theory OF
,water-vapor In the lunar astmos-
sphere. Prof. Pickering finds evil
~,dence OF the existence OF a low form
lsof vegetation on the plains. valleys
and slopes Of mountains. The white
f.substance seen covering mountains
and elevated regions he justly at
stributes to ice and hoar-frost
9 THE gas probably elected by the
volcanoes is believed to be carbonic
.aacid and water-vapor. as in the case
.iof terrestrial volcanoes. while a ma
tsjor portion of the lunar globe is
covered by ice. Photographs of the
ffull moon show the peculiar brilli-
ancy Of the lunar poles. attributed
TO the deposition of ice. In Febru-
AIRY last, Sir W. II. M. Christie, late
+ Astronomer Royal. paid a visit TO
Prof. Pickering at the Harvard Col
llege Observatory. Jamaica, and ceri-
fed. with the eleven-inch Draper re-
Tractor. the remarkable lunar
schaEges discovered by Prof. Pick
bring.
a. "A conspicuous extension Of the
Apennine Range seen on Feb. 21 and
22 evidently indicated a fresh fan
.pf snow a few days earlier. The
aspect OF the end of this range on
Feb. 26 indicated a melting OF the
SNOW shortly after the lunar noon.
ITO sum up. our increasing
knowledge. based upon the splendid
work OF Prof. Pickering and many
sWorld-renowned astronomers, leads
rus TO regard our satellite as still re-
sfaining and sharing with the earti
ecertain primitive characteristics
Rather than being a dead world
physically, its inherent heat wouls
.still appear TO create volcanic force