LIFE ON PLANETS

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 102, 21 July 1927, Page 3

LIFE ON PLANETS

SCIENTIFIC POSSIBILITIES AN INTERESTING LECTURE Scientific reasons for the conjecture that life might be possible in some other worlds were mentioned by Mr. G. E. Jones, who lectured to the Auckland Astronomical Society last evening. He said that Mars and the moon were the two heavenly bodies in which signs of life were most frequently sought. On the moon there was no air, and on this account an inhabitant of the moon would see a black sky always, with the sun a blazing fire and the stars visible all the time. Even in the direct rays of the sun the temperature of the moon would be below freezing point. If moon-dwellers were to build a big structure, or cultivate a wheat-field, the change would be visible through a telescope, but no such signs of habitation had ever been noted. SIGNS OF LIFE ON MARS Speaking of Mars, Mr. Jones said that the seasons there would be the same as those of the earth, only twice as long. Its canals could be seen only with the most powerful telescopes, and to be seen, these canals would have to bo ten miles in width, while some appeared to be 40 miles wide. Conditions on Mars were more favourable for life than any other planet, and some authorities did not hesitate to say that It was inhabited. The existence of life on other planets did not appear probable owing to the extremes of temperature.