The Washington herald., 1922-06-11
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SUNDAY. JUNE II. Isz1
ARE THE PLANETS
,IyHABTrEDf
On the question Of the hsbitabfi-
ty. of i've of the eight planets OF
the solar system all astronomers.
appear to be In perfect agreement
Mercury. though possessed OF .
surface crust. "a excluded from the
list Of suitable abodes in our par
t-1'ar corner Of the universe on
"a one Of three counts IL 10 IN
hrst place too uncomfortably
NOT receiving as it does twelve
mes the amount OF heat that is
SVEN TO our own little world II
moreover. an atmosphere
hch is q most essential require
menI Then In addition. 81 inten-
s'nes Its too torrid Temperature and
Q IDS TO its general unde,irabittv
an abode Of life by keeping the
same face always turned toward
ne sun. That the opposite side Of
we surface is continually in thS
shaoe does not help matter, for its
temperature probably lies close 70
he absolute zero or space.
Jupiter, Saturn. Uranus ana Man.
me are fully as undesirable a,
mercury, though for entirely an
ierent reasons Literally one would
never attain q foothold on any one
OF these planets for they have no
surface crusts. They are chiefly ~
not entirely gaseous throuEhout
The density Of Saturn is about
!three-fourths that Of water. Tn.
7sities Of the other three planets
q 'tly exceed the density Of water
closely approach that OF the
which is generally regarded as
ly gaseous. though highly
impressed toward the center. To
make matters worse these four
huge. outer planets have the dis
coursgtng temperatures of minus
l21o degrees. minus sso degrees.
minus $50 degrees. and minus 600
degrees Fair. respectively, in the
order OF their distances outward
from the sun These are the values
given by DR.. c. @. Abbot, assistant
secretary OF the Smithsonian Insti-
tuition, in an article on the .'Habita-
bilities OF Other Worlds" which an
pears in the annual report OF the
smithsonian Institution just issued
DR. Abbot finds also for Mercury .
isurface temperature OF plus $50 de-
rgrees Fair. for Venus a tempera-
ture Of 6s degrees. and for Mars
minus so degrees. These are OBJ
ttined from a consideration of the
relative powers and distances Of
these planets as compared to the
known values for the earth and
moon. The temperature given for
: the earth is plus So degrees Fahren-
: heit, and for the moon plus SO de-
, grees Fahrenheit
As regards the question Of the
Possibilities OF the planet Mars as
an abode of life we no longer find
an harmonious agreement among
astronomers but difference Of
opinion that becomes occasionally
acrimonious
/ I'm his discussion OF the question
life on Mars DIR. Abbot shares
the conservative views Of DR.. W.
v. Campbell. Of Lick: Dr. @. r.
Hale, Of Mount Wilson. and Prof.
L. E. Barnard, OF Yerkes. The guam
,tity OF water vapor detected by DR..
! ". w. Campbell in the spectrum OF
Mars. he maintains. is far too small
.. satisfy the requirements of or
aic life. DIR. Abbot also doubt.
correctness OF the interpreta-
n Of the far-fsmed canals OF
D ars" as waterways bordered by
. strips OF vegetationsl growth and
/. considers them to be rather 'irregu-
| larities in the planets contour and
soil composition" He also favors
. the opinion that the polar GAPS are
thin deposits OF hoar frost or car
. bonic acid gas. rather than fee or
, snow, and considers that telescopio
. observations reveal no clouds on
Mars. This view is not held by Dr.
E. c. Slipher. and other observers,
? OF the Lowell Observatory. Here the
: canals have been photographed and
clouds over the Msrtian surface
have been frequently observed. Prof.
". H Pickering and a number Of
sSsiduous observers Of the ruddv
lanet also favor the Interpretation
hat the canals are due to the
e -rowth of vegetation
Venus. beyond a question has a
dense atmosphere but astronomers
are again divided In opinion on the
possibilities Of this planet as an
abode Of life. DR.. abbot favors the
New that Venus is more likely to
D lie inha bited than Mars. The high
, reflective power Of this planet. he
, maintains. demands the existence Of
c'Ouds and is unfavorable to the
: theory that Venus always keeps the
= same face toward the sun. The re-
crt discovery OF the absence Of
water vapor in the spectrum Of
Venus introduces a most puz1ling
{ phase OF the problem. however.
n There is a possibility that the
atmosphere OF Venus is permeated
with 4 finely divided dust, a pos
: sible product Of intense volcanic
{ activity. which would act as an ex-
= cellent reflector Of the SUMS rays
and would at the same time efTectu-
ally conceal the surface.-By Isabel
a IL Lewis, Of the L. s. Naval obser-
= vatory.