Evening star., 1926-11-14
MARS TEMPERATURE REACHES
e8 DEGREES, NEW TEST SHOWS
DR.. Coblenz. with Delicate Thermocouple
Records Indian Summer Days, While
NIGHTS Are Colder Than Arctic

sensitive to electric currents. The
slightest variation of the heat applied
to the Joint is recorded on the gal
vanometer by the change in current.
| In 1924 the instrument was so deli
cately adjusted that it could measure
| the heat of candle so miles away.
| Mars, looked at through a telescope
| like that at the Naval Observatory
| presents a disc about half the size OF
the full moon, but this enlargement
would be valueless to DR.. CoblenZ, de-
feating its own purpose. The star,
the heat radiation from which is con
centrated on the joint of the thermo-
! couple, is only one-tcnth of an inch in
diameter. 1t is actually the radiation
| from | per cent of this one-tenth OF
an inch that has been measured this
! Fall.
This almost superhuman exploit de-
! pended on DR.. Coblenz' patient work
| in his laboratory here in shaving down
the joint of the thermocOuple on which
| the radiation is received SO that it was
: only ine-one-thousandth of an inch
! in diameter.
| This sensitive instrument then was
taken to Flagstaff and mounted on the
| focus of rejecting telescope, where.
night after night, the observations
were taken.
Mars Changes Recorded.
| Among the observations were that
! the south polar area on Mars, now en-
| joying the planetary Summer, is
warmer than the north polar area,
and that the dark area extending from
the polar cap IS considerably warmer
| than the surrounding white areas,
presumed to be desert.
These dark area are presumed to be
| due to vegetation which springs up as
/ the polar ice cap reCedes with the ad
vance of Summer, and DR.. COblenz'
observations lend more weight to this
| theory.
| The observations made with the
| thermocouple, of course, throw no
| light on whether or not animal life
exists on Mars. but they make its
| possibility more credible. The tenn
| peratme of 68 degrees Farenheit, re-
| corded by the thermOcouple during the
close approach of the planet in 1924,
| is about that of a late September day
in Washington, it was explained. Ger
| tainly there would be no difficulty of
animal life of a high order surviving
in such q temperature, provided there
was sufficient air and water. The
spectroscope shows both to exist, al
quantities than on earth. Perhaps
there is enough of them to keep even
a man alive.
But this is in the daytime. Mars
has at the best a very thin atmo-
sphere, hardly sufficient to hold much
of the suns heat during the night, as
IS the case on earth. There is no pos
sibility of thermocOuple measurements
of the temperature during the Martian
night, when there is no radiation to be
measured. 1t is presumed, however.
that the temperature Is very low
once the direct heat of the sun Is left
behind by the rotation of the planet.
since all the heat escapes in a very
short time.
Thus the animal which enjoyed a
pleasant climate during the daytime
would have to endure q temperature
as low as the lowest ever experienced
i'm the Arctic region of the earth every
night. Whether there is any form of
animal life which could endure such
conditions for any extended period is
probematical.
The question that always arises in
the minds OF the layman regarding the