ON MARS.

Wairarapa Daily Times, 7 April 1931, Page 3

ON MARS.

SUGGESTION OF VEGETATION. The extensive collection of astronomical photographs which have come from famous observatories throughout the world for the exhibition at the galleries of the Royal Photographic Society in Russell Square, London, are full .of interest even for those who know little of the wonders of astronomy. They show the sun and the moon under all sorts of conditions, and in-

elude a series of star charts covering the entire sky in 206 plates, while, in a darkened room almost chill with celestial mystery, “transparencies’ ’ and stereoscopic photographs will give even the least imaginative an awesome sense of what lies “beyond the loom of the last lone star.” Some of the most interesting photographs are those of the planet Mars. Photography lias not yet settled the vexed question as to whether Mars has “canals” or not, but it has revealed areas the behaviour of which suggests vegetation, and this, in turn, implies some form of animal and insect life. - Changes photographed daily during several days in October, 1926, show objects developing from practically nothing at the Martian noon to great conspicuousness during the afternoon, and becoming invisible on the following morning. These are the “blue clouds,” so called because they are readily photographed by blue or violet light. The exhibition is part of a series intended to show the service of photography to mankind. In no branch of scientific research has this been greater than in astronomy, and it was by means of- photography that astronomers discovered the presence of helium in the sun before it was known to be obtainable on earth.