The Indianapolis times., 1934-01-06
PLANETS AND
MOON ABOUND
IN MYSTERIES
Scientists at Mt. Wilson
Explain knowledge
Gained Thus Far.


The attention Of astronomers has
been drawn increasingly during the
last decade to the far corners of the
universe. The theories of Einstein,
Eddington, De Sitter and Lemaitre
have focused the spotlight of atten-
ton upon the cosmos as whole.
Is the universe finite but un-
bounded? 1t is expanding? Are
the spiral nebulae "stagnant spots"
in the expanding universe as Le-
maitre claims in his latest theory?
These are some of the questions
around which the battle RACES.
As a result, there has been a ten
dency to neglect some of the as
Economical problems closer at home.
And there are plenty of them. Our
nearest neighbor in space. the moon,
still presents many mysteries. So
do the planets.
Fortunately, the Mt. Wilson as
tronomers, whose discoveries of the
red shift in the spectra of the dis
tant spiral nebulae started the
theory of an expanding universe,
are not neglecting the earths i'm
mediate neighborhood. They are
turning their powerful telescopes
and auxiliary observing apparatus
upon the moon and planets as we'll
as upon distant nebulae.
Mt. Wilson observatory is one of
a number of research laboratories
comprising the Carnegie Institution
of Washington and the institution
has appointed moon committee"
Of astronomers, biologists and geo.
chemists to study the problems of
the moon.
The moon, observations show, has
no atmosphere and no water. Con-
sequently, it has no vegetation or
life of any sort. It's temperature
f1uctuates widely, midday temper
ature upon its surface being above
that of boiling water-212 degrees,
Fahrenheit-while it's night tenn
perature is several hundred degrees
below zero, Fahrenheit.
$50 far as our observation co.
the moon committee says, "the
moon is an inert mass, changing
but slowly, a relic Of the past with
a long history difficult to decipher.
"To the geologist its surface
features present a fascinating field
for comparative photographic stud
les, since these features have
evolved under conditions very diff
ferent from those that produced the
features he finds on the earth"
Full View Difficult
The planets, likewise, present
many problems which are difficult
to solve.
eve may never know very much
about the surface details of the
planets" DR.. Walter S. Adams,
director of the Observatory says.
This is not merely because our
telescopes lack sufficient magnifying
power, but chiefly because of the
disturbing effects in the earth's at
mosphere which would blur the de-
tails even if sufficiently powerful
telescopes we're available.
"The polar regions of Mars seem
to be ice-capped just as ours are,
and Venus appears always to be
surrounded by dense clouds. Beyond
this we can only speculate"
Every planet, except Mercury, has
an atmosphere Mercury, like the
moon, is too small to exercise Suf-
ficiently great gravitational pull to
hang on to atmosphere. Mars, with
a mass only one-tenth that of the
earth, has a shallow and rare at
mosphere.
Venus, whose mass is about four
fifths that of the earth, has an at
mosphere comparable to our own.
while the giant planets like Jupiter
and Saturn have atmospheres which
probably are thousands of miles
deep.
1t is possible to study the chem
ical nature of these atmospheres by
means of the spectroscope and these
studies at Mt. Wilson have yielded
some interesting results.
Clouds Surround Venus
"Venus, which seems to be covered
almost perpetualiy by layer of
clouds, gives no evidence of the
presence of oxygen or water vapor
above the cloud level from which
the light is reflected DR.. Adams
says. Below this level both gases
may perhaps exist.
"On the other hand the presence
If large quantities of carbon dioxide
above the cloud level is shown def
nltely by recent observations.
"A careful study of Mars proves
that less than one-tenth of l per
cent of the free oxygen present over
a unit area of the earth's surface
can be present over an equal area
of the planets surface, and that the
quantity of water vapor must be
small
THE extensive atmosphere of the
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