THE PLANET MARS

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 16, 19 July 1939, Page 6

THE PLANET MARS

INTRIGUING FEATURES

POSSIBILITY OF LIFE

Considerable interest was taken by thp audience at the Town Hall Concert Chamber last night in the lecture on the planet Mars, given by Mr. Murray Geddes, Director of the Carter Observatory. The lecturer was introduced by Mr. M. F. Luckie, who expressed.tlile hope that it would be but the first of a series of astronomical lectures under the auspices of the Carter Observatory Board.

Illustrating his remarks with a number of lantern slides, Mr. Geddes dealt very interestingly with the various markings on Mars revealed by telescopic study. The polar cap which apparently melts in summer; the greygreen markings spread over the planet's surface in an irregular manner, supposed to be areas of vegetation; the so-called canals, which, in ( some quarters, are held to be evidence of intelligent life on Mars; and the presence of atmosphere, clouds, and frost, were among the many subjects touched upon. The present comparatively close approach of Mars to the; earth was a chance for astronomers to add to their knowledge of the surface features of Mars, although unfortunately at the present time it was only from the Southern Hemisphere that the planet was favourably placed for observation. It was impossible to see details of the surface markings on Mars clearly, as the most powerful telescope gave only a view which corresponded roughly, as far as detail was concerned, to a naked-eye view of the moon. Visual observation was more satisfactory than photographic. Astronomers made drawings of what they observed, and from these drawings it was possible to map the surface of Mars. But astronomers, for a. long time, and probably for ever, would be left guessing. Mr. Geddes concluded his very fascinating lecture with a reference to the possibility of there being life on Mars. He suggested that it was quite possible that there was life qn the planet, but it was not at all necessary to postulate life as we know it. Conditions on Mars, although in some respects similar, were different from those prevailing on the earth, and it was quite conceivable that life had developed in a different form. The possibility of there being intelligent life on Mars was a fruitful subject for speculation and fiction writers, said Mr. Geddes, who threw on the screen as a final picture a coloured slide of a Martian as visualised by H. G. Wells —a creature consisting mainly of brain and tentacles, the latter being used to manipulate huge machines. During the next fortnight or so, starting on Friday next, the Carter Observatory at Kelburn will be open to the public every fine evening, enabling telescopic observation of the planet to be made by those interested.