MARS.

Hokitika Guardian, 16 September 1922, Page 4

MARS.

(S. Ellitt Napier.) There are three reasons why a few notes oil tile “baleful” planet which is such a conspicuous object in our evening skios, should be of interest. Firstly, the- imminence of the total solar eclipse has directed public attention to all astronomical subjects to an unwonted degree; secondly, Mars is in one of its periodical close approaches to the earth, and is, therefore, most advantageously situated for observation and comment; and, thirdly, of all celestial objects Mars is probably, by reason of its proximity to us and the similarity of its physical conditions to those obtaining on the earth, the most interesting of all times. I do not intend to use any morei scientific data than I can help; but there are one or two facts about Mars, as a planet, that it is advisable, I think, that 1 should mention, before dealing with him, from a literary or historical standpoint. And, first, a word or two as to how it happens that Mars is nearer to us than usual. Both the earth and Mars revolve about the. sun in orbits which are not circles, but eclipses or ovals, of which the sun, of course, is one of the foci. It follows then that each of them is, at one point of that orbit closer to thci sun than anywhere else on its annual circuit. That point is called its perihelion, and the point at which it is furthest from the sun is known as its aphelion. Moreover,_ as the orbit of Mars is not concentric with that of the earth, and their rates ' of motion are dissimilar, it follows once more that as they swing round (Mars being on the outside) they must pass one another at various distances. If. therfore they do pass when Mars is at its perihelion and the earth at its aphelion, and they are both on the same side of thei sun—or in opposition, as it is technically termed—it is evident that they must then bo closer together than at any other pont in their respective journeys. Such a juxta position occurs every !•> I years, or thereabouts, and is gradual- '• jy approaching now. It will actually , occur in August, 1924; hut in the meantime the planets are passing one ! another at a fairly close distance in i their annual cirfliit. Fairly close, | that is, for astronomy, to whom a million miles or so is but a negligible step.

J Mars is about six and a-linlf times smaller than the earth, and its year i consists of 669 days (nttirly). as!; against our 365 and a hit, hut with I : these two exceptions its physical con-,I j ditions are very similar to our .own.' i Its days and nights are almost exactI ly the same as ours in length; we : have the same phenomena as regards j the distribution of temperature, and it is almost certain that our lands I and seas arc paralleled on Mars. There is certainly snow and air and land and j water, there, and probably vegetable j and other life; in a word. Mars exj hibits so many curious analogies with I the earth that it requires no great ! imagination to picture it peopled with ! a race of sentient beings who, how--1 ever much they may—and must—differ from ourselves in many ways, may well enough resemble us in many others. Tlie day is long past, when the implicit belief—so comfortable to our own conceit—was general that the sun and moon and stars were made to light tilt earth, and that we occupied the only orb in the universe worthy ol being allowed to know the phenomena ol life. Wo know now that our earth is but a tiny grain of sand in the vast Sahara of the universe, wherein lie scattered an intimity of other grains, the large majority of them far grander and more wonderful than ours. As J)r Campbell, the great llmeriean astronomer who is now visiting us, so finely put it the other day: “Kveryhod.v now holds as absurd that .... our earth is the only star that is inhabited by intelligent life. Can there he a more inspiring thought than that intelligent beings are pro bably living here and there throughout the universe, in whatsoever direction we may look?” And of all the “stars”—to adopt for a moment l)r Campbell’s poetic term—there is not one more likely to lie* the home of stitli “intelligent beings” as are eon-

ceivable to our wartliborn senses tlinn is the planet Mars. Indeed this idea is by no means novel. Over a hundred years ago the philosopher, Kant advanced it; and there were .others — though perhaps not so notable—before him. Kant thought that life on the Earth and on Mars would be something between the material and irresponsible status obtaining on the inferior planets. Mercury and Venus, and tlie perfect ability and virtue 'which he presumed to be the happy condition of. the Jovian and Saturnian peoples However, Kant was more of a philosopher than a scientist, andMiis opinion on this point is hnrdl.v that of an authority. ■

Mara is, as I have said, very conspicuous these nights. You may lind him almost directly overhead shortly after sunset. He has a very uncomfortable station, for he is still within the grasp of Antnres, the Scorpion star, from whose unpleasant society he has been slowly retreating lately. It is no minder, therefore, that he looks so red and angry, though, to he sure, that might well be attributable to his observation of his sire Jupiter chasing Venus away to the west. Whether that chase is for the purpose of driving the lovers apart, or of making a rendezvous with the lady himself, T am not at all clear; hut it is not the first time, as students of their Lempriere will remember, that Jove has had to interfere in the "affaires” of Venus and Mars. He is rapidly catching,her up iust now, leaving Mars sulking in the background—the “Mars of malcontents,” indeed—and the three of them ilia ke a wonderfully line display every evening in the western sky. There are not many references of note to the planet Mars, either in literature or history, although those to the god whose name lie hears are numerous enough. He was given that name originally because of his colour, red being always associated with war, whose especial god Mars was. Although the latter was reputedly horn to Jupiter and Juno in Thrace, the Greeks worshipped him hut little. It was the Romans who made much of him, and of his amiable sister! Rellona—“the fire-eyed inaid,” as ' Shakespeare calls her. Indeed, Rome was under his especial protection, his sons, Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, being pnrtirulnrlv dear ta him. Mars—the planet this time, and not the a great part j in alchemy and astrology when those ! mysterious sciences were “the vogue.” Tie represented “iron” in the nstrolo- ; trie jargon, and was by no means a : ‘•lucky star” to bo born under. A ; rpiaint old imtlmritv on tliis siibW-t j savs that those who first see the light j under hi,s sinister influence are “borne theves and robbers, nyght-walkers, and rpiarrell-pykers. bosters, mockers, ' i and sknfl’ers; and those men of Mars causUh warre and murthor and hata.vle.” However, a “Mars man” j was not necessarily altogether such an i unpleasant party as this description ] would seem to imply; for the same an- i thority informs us that such a one may t lie “gootle to be a harbour and a Mode- < 1 "tter and to drawe tetlie”—a refer- 1 ence to the old “chirurgeon’s” trade (

when the tri-coloured barber’s pole held a more literal significance than it does to-day. In heraldry, again, the planet had quite a prominent place. The arms of royal personages used to he “blazoned” by the nair.es of planets to distinguish tliein from those of “noblemen,” Which were blfizbliod with the names of precious stones, and from those of the rank and file of knighthood, which had to bo satisfied with blazonry -by mere colours. Thus red—or gules, as it was known in the heraldic French—became ruby 'tortcaux) for a nobleman and Mars for one in whose veins ran the blood royal. In the mythology of the Homans, Mars, bv one of his many unions, had five children—Kris (Discord), Phobos (Flight), Metus (Fear), Deirnos (Terror), and Pallor (Drcadi —altogether a verv charming little “quiver full.” Homer, in his Iliad, describing Mars preparing to descend to earth to avenge the death of another of his numerous progeny, says: “He ordered Terror and Flight to yoke bis steeds.” Remembering this line, the names of Deirnos and Phobos were therefore very ' aptly chosen bv their discoverer, Professor Asaph Hall, of the Washington Observatory, in 1877, for the two tiny moons which he found circling the planet. And, in connection with these moons, it is fitting that what is probably the most amazing literary coincidence on record should lie related. Before 1877 no Martian moons had been seen, and therefore, it was generally presumed that lie had none. Yet in 1720 Dean Swift, describing in “Gulliver’s Travels” his hero’s adventures among the science-loving inhabitants of the Island of Papula, wrote these words: “They have likewise discovered two lesser stars, or satellites, which revolve about Mars, whereof the innermost is distant from the centre of the primary planet exactly three of his diameters, and the outermost five ; the former revolves in the space of ten hours, and the latter in twenty-one and a half.” That was written ioO years before the discovery of Phobos and Deirnos, and shortly after they wore first observed it was found that Deirnos —the larger and outer moon.—eon.plotes its revolution round its primary in a little over 30 hours, while Phobos only requires about seven and a half hours for bis journey. Voltaire, writing bis “Microntegas” in 1700, had also supposed bis interplanetary voyagers to have seen “two moons which wait on Mars, and which have escaped the gaze of astronomers ; hut this was proha hi v a crib from Suift. The latter’s extraordinary guess—for it can have been nothing, more, ami, indeed, was written in a vein of satire —remains the most remarkable “chance shot” in literature. It only remains to add that, as Mars takes 21.) hours to revolve on his axis, and Phobos onlv 7.) hours to go round him, it follows that the little satellite rises in the west, and sets in the cast. It passes the second moon, eclipses itrepeatedly, and goes through all its nbascs in eleven hours. Indeed, 'Phobos is well named.