REPORTED ERUPTION ON THE MOON.

Grey River Argus, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5557, 27 July 1886, Page 3

REPORTED ERUPTION ON THE MOON.

Following on the news of the eruption of Mount Etna, to say nothing of that which has oacurred nearer home, cornea a startling report to the effect that something resembling a volcanio eruption has been seen on the moon : — The Courier de I'lllinois contains the announcement that a well-known French astronomer has observed what he beielvei to be fire on the surface of the moon. The phenomenon was first seen by M. Guillaume at Peronnes, and has been verified by the Astronomer of the Paris Observatory. They saw a reddish brightness on a spot near the object known as Aristarchus, which is a crater formation nearly fifty miles in its longest diameter, and situated in the north-west quadrant of that side of the . moon which is turned towards the earth. The region in question is already known to selenographers as the brightest spot on the whole of the lunar disc, and under favorable conditions, with a large instrument it shines like a piece of burnished silver. Hence the possibility that the observers referred to have been mistaken. But, if not, then any little augment of 'light would be inappreciable in competition with the flood of sun illumination. The time to look for it ia from a few days after the new moon to three days before the full, when the spot Is on the illuminated part of the diBC. There can be no question (remarks a contemporary) that such a change, if any there be, is a stupendous one, or it could not be perceived, even faintly, at the enormous distance of some 240,000 mlies which ordinarily separates us from our companion in the annual journey round the sun. And the phenomenon would bi all the more interesting, as the astronomers have for many years been of the opinion that the moon is a died- out world. She is generally spoken of as entirely destitute of air and water on. her surface. The fact is that we know she has not an atmosphere which would balance in our barometers a column of mercury more than the thirtieth part of an inch in height, or say about one thousandth part as much as if forced up a tube by the earth's atmosphere. Within that very ■mall limit she may possess an envelope of air, for all that we know to the contrary, and some recent observations favor tha idea that the moon has some such a film of atmosphere surrounding her, at least on that side which is turned toward us. o f course water is an impossibility in th» absence of air* aa it is kept in the liquid condition only by atmospheric pressure. Remove that and the water would vaporise to form an atmosphere of vapor which would be eaiily recognised by v«. Hence, on the most favorable supposition, any form of organic life with which we ar« acquainted could not exist to start a fire there, and it is difficult to sse where such a fire could obtain the oxygen necessary to support combustion. It may, therefore, be safely concluded that the reddish glare of light claimed to have been seen by the French astronomers cannot be a signal intended by the Seleniats to open up communtcation with us. The only conceivable explanation of the phenomenon would be that it is a fire of volcanic origin, an eruption of red hot matter from beneath the lunar crust, which is not yet Bolfdified to the point where such an outbreak can belong only to the dead past. The fact, if it be one, -will gain additional interest srom the observation of the crater Linnseus which is thought to have undergone extensive changes within the last few years.