LIFE ON MARS

Dominion, Volume 35, Issue 8, 4 October 1941, Page 12

LIFE ON MARS

Subject Of Speculation ASTRONOMICAL ADDRESS The only indication of the possibility of life on Mars was the changing nature of part of its surface, said the director of the Carter Observatory, Mr. M. Geddes, lecturing in the Public Library, Wellington on Thursday night. This changing colour of the surface, he said, might mean that the seasons affected the growth of possible vegetation. If' there was this vegetation there ought to be other forms of life, but there was no proof. Conditions on Mars were not against supporting life, he said, as the weight of evidence showed. However, existence would be certainly a little more arduous. It was quite certain life would not'take the same course as on earth nnd probably it would be difficult to recognize as life. Atmosphere existed on the planet of somewhat similar composition to that on the earth, though the density was not as great. Because of the further distance from the sun. temperature at the equator would seldom be more than 50 degrees F. When Schiaparelli discovered approximate straight lines on the desert area in the northern hemisphere of Mars in 1877, great interest was shown by the people because the thought of canals immediately suggested the idea that some race dwell an Mars. Percival Lowell, an American, bore out this theory in 1890 by stating that' he observed more lines, and oases which were points from which the artificial channels radiated. That their purpose was to irrigate the dry deserts was Lowell’s belief. Great diversion of thought arose,-said Mr. Geddes, and as the canal-like markings were very indistinct, and for the canals to be visible from the earth they would need to be 1000, miles wide, .a more probable explanation was that these lines were great valleys which reflected light differently. A greenness which appeared at certain seasons over part of the surface was claimed by Lowell to be vegetation, and this had been partially supported, said Mr. Geddes. However, there bad been evidence of other great unexplained changes, some in the northern hemisphere, being possibly caused by dust storms. Mars was very difficult to study, bebecause of its indistinct markings, which made it impossible to recognize its geography, and yet because of Schiaparelli and Lowell’s theory of life being present, it was probably the most romantic of the planets and the subject of speculation as to when or what the inhabitants were.