THE PLANET MARS

Otago Witness, Issue 2896, 15 September 1909, Page 22

THE PLANET MARS

PROFESSOR LOWELL'S DISCOVERY. NEW YORK, September 10. Professor Percival Lowell, of Boston, has observed oxygen in the atmosphere of Mars. Professor LowelL who is director of. the •Lowell Observatory, has made a special study of the planets, especially Mars, for come years. About two years ago, not •■content vrith taking observations at his observatory at Flagstaff, Arizona, Mr Lowell 'despatched an expedition well equipped for photography to the Andes of South America, where the "seeing" would be better, as Mars would be at a greater altitude in the •kv. At the great Lick Observatory in the .United States the monster telescope was turned on the mysterious planet, to read its J-iddle. . ... The main question' to be fettled was ."whether the channels or canals, which the Italian astronomer Sohiaparelli discovered 30 years ago, Save . the mathematical regularity which he and Mr Lowell heve ascribed to them. For some time Schiaparelli's canals were regarded with scepticimn, but in 1905 one of Mr Lowell's amatmnte, Mr Lampland, obtained actual

photographs of thorn, which prove that they do undoubtedly exist. On July 7, 1907, the New York correspondent of the Daily Mail received the following telegram from Mr Lowell, dated Flagstaff, Arizona: — "The expedition which I have despatched to the Andes has obtained photographs of Mars showing both the double canals and tho oases in that planet. Scientific opinion in America, however, was generally sceptical as to the ■\alue of such photographs. | Professor Pickering, of Harvard, thought it possible tnat the study of the planet b> telescope would yield better results than i photography. Professor Serviss, of Brooklyn, while scouting- the idea of interplanetary communication despite the fact that Mars was only 38 million miles away, was oon-vmoed that, as Mars was in a ; more advanced stage of evolution than the ■ earth, the Martians were ahead of their ■ terrestrial rivals in science. He therefore ' concluded that they would b© the first to 1 establish a successful inter-planetary signalling apparatus." The oasca on Mars are dark spots on which the spidef-web lines of the canals converge, and are supposed to be patches of vegetation due to irrigation by the water conveyed in the canals. The double canals run parallel for enormous distances, like the pair of rails on a railway, and their exact object is not satisfactorily explained bj any theory. Many astronomers ha\e supposed them to. be due to defective vision

on the part of the observer, but the photographs 6eem to prove that thi-s interpretations is not correct.