PROBLEMS OF MARS.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13996, 3 September 1909, Page 3

PROBLEMS OF MARS.

'/ • . - WILL THEY. BE SOLVED NEXT ' 1 - MONTII P

Towards the latter part -«f next month—to be more, preciso as to tiniej oa\ Septeihber 24th,/at: 8- jniost important .astronomical phenomenon w?ll tako place, the opposition "of tho -planetvMars >(«\Tites. Rlr: Bayntond, officer, in chargei of -the Sydney Olisur--vatory,. sin -the: i: Sydney• " Daily Telegraph.") Tho last opi»osition,occurred on July 2611), IpOT, and, altlioUgli - 31a rs aml tlio enrtir .lvero ..in very , advantageous paths of:^thcir'.respective orbits for- the phenomenon, more so th'an many of the previous: oppositions.: still. tlie coming o^iposition;wilL find the. two bodies even better placed 1 . •; It is during oppositions tliafc astronomers expect to find -important information about oun.- neighbour,, whether it is in- a condition similar to our earth —if peopled by intelligent beings, 4 and if they have customs and habits similar to our, own.

Great preparation# are lieing marie bysome American' astronomers to sic-. nnlMars during this opposition, and all the world's greatest telescopes will, be turned- towqrds_tho planetto .. <•!>- serve if Ue .Martians .(if, there Ite, fiicM ; liave received'those , signals. : ' .But '»W though discovery may. not go as f;<r; as: that in vourr still•Kometlnn preat may.becxpected;- The so-called canals -wilt .bo miniv times, and no hare this important- vmtter settled ibeyond vall doubt.: Otli.-r natiiral•'features of Mars will also re- \ ceivc-their -proper - portion ■ of • atit«"ition, and we may arrive at some definite conclusion as .to?-the ;distnl)uti'>'i of 'land.and water, on the planet. At. the" present; time it is ..presumed that very little water exists oil Mars, practicably tlie only sunplv brfinK-derivd from the melting" of. the snow at tbc poles. The peculiar colour of t'-is planet is probably duo to the ruddy .lat.iire of the soil.

Mars canals were first discovered by the Italian astronomer, Schi«ns<relli, > in the year 1877, and ivcr" 1 called >:ui«li, f>r channels. I>v him,' aiid'lie made fiirllicr observations on several subsequent ocea «ions until failing si ill it pnt a stop to his great work in the year, 1890. To Italy is thus djie the crro"t discoveries of the phases and canals of Mart. Of recent ' astronomers, ' Professors Pickering and Lowell, the former at ; Harvard College Observatory, U.S.A., aj'd th'? latter at th« Observatory. Flaestaff.'. Arizona. TT.S'.SA M have friven much of their" tinle to unravelling the mysteri°<! of 'Mars. professor Pickering was tlie discoverer of, the many spots connected- with the canal system, which mnv be grent works of water conservation, and Profes«o'v Lowell, from his Observatory. had t>lintogr»nhs obMined.. by Mr T.nnmlauds, showing-the. canal sysfr">i durintr "the opposition _ in 190n. That _ astronomer practically makes a.-special'tv of Mnrs study, and -is. perhaps, the world's greatest authority on the planet. " Mars revolves ©n its axis almost .n the same time as the earth, taking only 40 minutes more for the revolu-. tion, but its year consists of 687 of our. days, or 609 of its own. It travels around its orbit at a speed slower than the earth, the rate being 15 miles against 18J miles per second. Other resemblances between the two planets are the tilt of their equators to the plane of their orbits, so that similar seasons prevail on boah. 1 bey are, of course, longer on Mars, as the Martian year is nearly twice as long

as tlio terrestrial year, and owing to tho eccentricity of Mars orbit previously described tins seasons arc not of equal length. As summer approaches on tlio pianet the snow at the poles thaw, and tjio snow caps greatly decreasq in sij«v expanding again on the approach of. the winter season. It also possesses an atmosphere similar to the. earth, for occasionally the markings on its surface are observed by patches of cloud.