IS MARS INHABITED?

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13996, 31 August 1907, Page 4

IS MARS INHABITED?

B; Coloxa,

For many wetks past. Jlare tow Tbecn a glorious object n the evening sky, shining with a strong, Titidy glow that even the radiance of the fill moon could not over-

po\wv. Early in July it was low in the cast Goon after smset, now it is high overhead, and thus less favourably placed for the ordinary star-gazer. It is only at infrequent interials that Mars and tho eaTtli approach one iinother so closely, and that wo have sucli a good view of the ruddy planet. In July Mars was in "op-

position"; that, is, directly opposite tho sun, and consequently, since its orhifc lies outside that of the earth, at a comparatively short distaiue from us. As tho earth in its smallei orbit gains on Mars, tho distanco bctwein the two bodies increases, and Mars dwindles in size and histro so that the ordinary nnscicntifio star-gazer loses trade of it. Many persons gizing at the shining planet these clear winter nights must havo wondered whe'.her in it, too, there were star-gazers seaming tho earth, and seeking signs of it 6 being the 'abode of intelligent beings, for imaginative novelists and equally imaginative scientists have pretty well familiarised the public with the idea of tlio liabitabilit-y. of Mars. Indeed, liuny peoplo are undef' the impression that lot only the liabitability of Mate but the actual presence of intelligent and htthan-like beings has been demonstrated. For this belief they may well adduce the vivid pictures painted by the French scientist Camille Flammarion, who, without any qualification, shows us the " men in Mare," what they ar« doing, and how far they havo advanced beyond us poor deuitens of a younger planet, it will come rather lilw a shock of cold water on those who have taken these pleasing inventions in good faith to hear that sober-minded astronomers consider even the capacity of Mare to .sustain life at all resembling that known on tho earth as highly problematical. 1 Its physical conditions indeed resemble these'of the earth much more clcsdy than do those of any other planet of thosoiar system. The distances of most of the planets from the eun, with their modes of 'rotation, would render their climatic conditions utterly remote front those of the earth, even if they resembled it in physical constitution, which it is certain that many do not. Mare, on the oilier liand, makes a tolerably near approximation to tho earth in distance and rotation. It is, roughly, only about half as far again from the sun. as we aw, and,'like the earth, rotates on its axis once in about 24 hours. Also, its axis is inclined to its orbit at an inclination of about 25deg, so tjiat its seasons must v&ry nearly as ours do. Then changes are observed on its surface that make it reasonable to credit it with the of an, atmosphere. Two hundred 'years ago white patches were detected about the poles of the planet, and since then these have been observed regularly to wax and wane with tho transition from winter to summer. That theso white patches aro polar snows is a reasonable conclusion, and from this follows the inference that Mars has an atmosphere like that of the earth. But with thceo striking similarities to the earth, Mare shows dissimilarities as striking. Owing to. its distance from the sun, the amount of light and heat it receives can be only half the' amount received by the earth. Then, from tho absence Of clouds and other considerations, it-is certain that the atmosphere is Very rare and that the surface of the planet is almost waterless. Then owing to its small size and low density the attraction of gravitation is only about a, third of what pTcvaiis on the earth—W cvrcuinstance which must profoundly modify the forms assumed by living organisms. True, theso two points of unlilceness—low gravity and absence of water—havo been., ingeniously utilised to givo us information about the hypothetical " men. of Mars.". Twenty yeare ago the Italian astronomer Schiaparolli first detected peculiar straight lines intersecting tho surface of the planet, 'Tho objection to tho possibility of canals of such a width as to bo visible from tho earth was met by tho supposition that tlio visible width of the "canal" was a'.strip o£ vegetation bordering.the narrow stream of water, And the low gravity of . Mars comes in beautifully to aid the idea of such a giagntic irrigation system. A man from tho earth transported to liars would weigh only a third of his weight, hero and alt liis muscular labour would be lightened threefold. Lessened gravity renders possible corresponding increaso of stature, hence the men of Mars may, be three times as large as those of tho earth. They will be strong in proportion, and, favoured by the low gravity of their planet, will find no difficulty in mechanical enterprises with which wo with all our science could not cope. The size of the canals induces the inference that all tho inhabitants work in 00-operation, hence they are enlightened, peaceful, and have outgrown our foolish racial animosities, as befits denizens of a plaDet at a later stage of development than oura. In Mars, in Bhort, the ideal " parliament of man and federation, of the world" has long been accomplished reality. Unfortunately the very existence of the straight lines on which so mnch depends has been disputed. Other astronomers, as favourably situated as Shiaparelli, failed to detect them, and when seen they often took different forms to different'observers, so that some maintained them to be a mere optical illusion. It seems, however, to be substantiated that they actually exist, and doubtless during tho late iavourable position of the planet astronomers will havo subjected them to keen scrutiny. As to the hopes of .obtaining signals from Mars and observing life (if there bo any on its surface), the following statement by Professor Turner will show that there is little to build on, Mars is at least 200 times farther from us than tho moon— generally much farther. Now, 200 is about the magnifying power of a good telescope. It follows, then, that whatever a fair telescope enables us to see on Mars could be seen on the moon with the naked eye; and it may be added that- whatever tho largest telescope in existence would enable us to see on Mars could bo seen on the moon with a pocket opera glare, \ Hence, let anyono look at the moon with tho naked eve, or even with a small operaglass, and he will begin to understand tho caution which must be exercised in drawing conclusions, however attractive, as to the habitability of the planets." Mars is undoubtedly, as said above, more like the earth than is any other planet: so if there is little hopo of our discovering living beings on Mars, much less can we suppose that any at all resembling the creatures we aro familiar with exist elsewhere in the solar system. But to say that life, as we "know it, cannot exist on. the planets is by no means to 6ay that no life can exist. That an insignificant speck of matter like our earth is tho sole abode of lifo and intelligence is unthinkable. If some magician could show us the forms of life existent on another planet, we should probably find them stranger than the wildest imaginings of fiction. For human imagination can only modify and recombine things with which it is familiar, and in other worlds utterly different conditions must result in tho evolution of utterly dissimilar forms of Nature.