Show COMING II OPPOSITION OF OP 1 By Ed Edgar EdL 3 M L Mars waa once the got god of ot Will war and may be now Beyond Be lie- yond a doubt ho he was the tho son of ot Jupiter and Juno Then they thoy named the planet next beyond the earth in his hon hon- or At once he ho engaged in war in behalf of ot the Trojans Later the tho Roman emperor Augustus Auguslus put up a n costly temple right away after afler the battle of ot Philippi Eve Everybody Everybody Every Every- 1 body worshiped in the new shrine And nearly all the people still adore adoro war Mars was tile the father tather of C Cupid who gets up as much trouble as war Tho The planet will attract universal attention during luring the summer of ot 1907 It or he he is coming around to make us usa usa usa a call caB and will be at tho the nearest point to tho the earth carth on Jul July 12 Its Ils diameter Is miles H gets red the In-the S face and will be so large larg-e and brilliant that even a man who is utterly unable to lo think of or anything but gold cannot cannot cannot can can- not fall fail to lo look up at least once to behold tho Martian splendor and amI Papuans will all gaze gazo upon the rudd ruddy world in aw awe The earth is seven noveli times larger than Mars l and contains con- con alas lains a little more mote than han nine nino times limes the tho quantity of or matter matter mat mat- ter so It Ills Is likely that our om earth contains more metal than than Mars Our brother world requires days to make mako a circuit around the tho sun Its real mean distance from rom the solar globe Is miles But It at times recedes recodes to lo and draws up to within This Is Js because became Its track or orbit It orbit It docs does not go on rails rails rails-Is Is not a n. circle but an ellipse So Is 15 the tho orbit of ot tho the earth The eccentricity of or the Iho orbit of Mars lars Is and this enables it to vary Valy its distance from froni tho the sun sim miles while that thai of or the tile earths earth's orbit Is which prevents pre pro vents it varying its solar distance more moro than tItan The Time distance of the earth from the lie sun is 1 and that lint of or Mars lIars li Now ow Newton found out that all rall radiant nt energy eners en en- S en-S of or the tho distance Croman from Crom ers ergy varies varle Inversely as the square quare an any radiating center All you ou have havo to do Is iR to square quare which gives 32 and divide e 1 b by it The Tho quotient is hence Mars receives only 43 per pel- cent of the tho light ant and heat from Crom the tho sun that Ural the earth does docs It is a n. gloomy world Astronomers had hod trouble to find the density of oC the tho theair theair air all of ot Mars laIS and would be bo In the Iho same now if It they had not perfected tho the the Iho most marvelous instrument in modern observatories First it has long been known that our oua moon has little or no air all W. W W. W Campbell up UI at al the tho Lick observatory In iii California turned tho the spectroscope on the moon and noticed the time spectrum Then he wheeled it around to Mars when lo io the time two o spectra were alike That is ItS tho the light from fron the sun had ad to go down through the atmosphere atmosphere atmos atmos- phere of Mars and up out again If it han balm any air to lo speak of surely absorption lines ought to appear but no Therefore It may be said that If IC MillS Mars has any air all it is rare Indeed like indeed like that thai on our mountains Then it cannot become saturated with a aery very ery great quantity of aqueous vapor Rain must be Yer very light and antI the tho canals er very narrow to lo convey the Hn tiny liny streams Indeed the Iho canals cannot be seen al at all Two centuries more inure will pass awn away before tho the false word canals will vanish and the true word channels b be substituted Canals are works worl s of engineering and channels channels channels chan chan- nels are arc wrought rought ht b by nature I like to watch vatch the tho white caps on the poles of ot Mars come and go when tho the polar regions are arc turned toward or away from the sun Some Somo say the white while stuff is snow others hoar hoar frost and still others carbonic dioxide Tho The inclination of the axis of or Mars to the plane pIano of its orbit Is 24 degrees 50 GO minutes while that thal of or tho the earth is 23 3 degrees 27 minutes Then why does not the tue heat of or the sun melt off oft our polar snow when it equals 1 and that of ot otIal's Mars Ial's 03 The reply is that the snow on the poles of Mars tars is ver very thin and melts mells casU easily with low heat This Is owing to the absence almost of water With little water waler and less air nil such creatures as we humans humans humans hu hu- hu- hu I f mans are arc could not exist on Mars They would perish for air ant and freeze At tho the nearest approach Mars fars will be e miles from the carthand Its Us angular diameter 21 24 seconds But the tho linear diameter is miles divided by 24 equal miles for Cor only one second of or arc An exceedingly good goode goodeye goodeye e eye e looking through a great telescope might see seo a line whose diameter Is third one-third of or a second or 01 58 8 miles on omi on the disk of bt Mars Mais-a Mais Y a a pretty wide canal canaK The Tho uman no is' is a canal of or this 1 I I wIdth and amid length 12 1200 00 miles unless the they worked worked for centuries ecu cen tunes lurIes without wages There Thero is not mono money enough on onearth onearth earth to pa pay the slaves This difficulty Js is avoided by sayIng sayIng say- say Ing lug that vegetation grows in great luxuriance along tho the irrigation ditches But a vast flora Hora must exist on Mars Marsto lo to change chango the Iho shading of or color on a 0 world How Plow can plants grow in arctic temperature in thin air all and with a scarcity of or water Doubling of or canals canals canals' Is an optical delusion pure and simple No two observers can make maleo maps alike they e 50 things differently A. A E. E Douglass of or tho the University of oC Arizona made mademan man many drawings at the Lowell and at this the ob- ob senator Since then Ihen he ho has made a psychological test lest He discovered a new optical illusion and that discordance discordance discord ance reigns supreme and it is frequently found t that different dir dif f ferent rent drawings b by the same artists antagonize each other across tho the page The American Astronomer V. V I I. I No 2 2 page pago 1 Percival Lowell performed tho the difficult task lask of photographing photographing photo photo- graphing Mars These show large largo dark masses and a few v narrow trace of ot anything wide streaks I cannot detect a n artificial canal with tho the ma magnifying enough to be bo an I cannot seo an any Jiny observer skilled len lens But Barnard a Hero lIer Is tho the place to canal with the giant Lick t telescope within range of ot the larg largest st put in this There are arc none telescope In existence The large larse and prominent shadings s masses oceans ocean show well at this observatory ob ob- ob- ob continents or whatever they ore are promise that tho the coming now and these gho July Tuly opposition will be he of great Interest The minute that Mars lars rises earl early in tho lie evening so evening so the they will not have havo to get et up UI in the night the night Iho signallers with plans for tor and magazines will rush to lo the tho papers friends on Mars fars Human argument argument ar ar- ar- ar making signals to our good ant and science cannot connot suppress n a l signaller Let an electric arc light bo placed on each square foot root of or the hemisphere of ot tho the earth turned toward Mars lars a aUs ai tho tIme inhabitants cannot SeC seo a Its Us nearest approach then approach then glimmer When it is midnight on the thc earth It is noon on Mars and the time Martians would bo be blinded b by tho ho sun and not see the electric lights at atall nh The Mars man could not nut see the tho earth when looking straight at the sun Yet articles ar- ar tides have appeared written In favor of 51 signalling by JI light ht by men who actually ought to know lenow better beller And who could actuate a n. telegraph key to open and close the circuit to tu send scud dots dols and dashes lashes from rein electric lights corin covering coy cov ering cring rin half of or tho the surface of the tho earth Mental Montal oscillations telepathy and tho the like would work worl be belter t t or Mars wilt will simply loop the loop in Ute the summer time Ume Mars looms UI up cm n April 3 and amid goes from Crom west to east cast is isit it Il it ought until June Juno 5 G 5 when it Jt stops and begins to lo retrograde retrograde retro retro- grade as it Il ought to do lo 1119 this Is moves from west to cast casl until until August S. S It will vill slow down come to lo a Q halt and amI start starl east enst again and keep leep going cast cast the end of or ortho tho the year ear These antics will vIli all to tako 1 10 0 place vInce In the splendid starry regions of Scorpio and Sagittarius For far Car to the south of or this mountain observatory in July and August tho ho Milky Va Way hangs up UI splendid shoots sheets of or cloth of or pearl cari glorious robes of or night ht anti and dra drags s tho the careless garments gar gar- meats ments in tho sea Mars larB with wilh Us its disk of or fiery red will sweep now west and then cast over the stellar and pass before glittering suns in number as tho the sand grains grainson on tho the oceans ocean's shore Mars 1015 people have a a. great lime time with two little moons It takes Mars 21 hours and 3 37 minutes tt ti make mako one turn lurn on its axis ls But the funny HUlo moon goes entirely around the planet in seven hours and 39 30 minutes hence our friends have havo 3 2 months every day rises in tho the west and goes through Us its phases allrIght all right But then this satellite is only seen miles In diameter diameter diame diame- ter and inspires e very little weak eal The Tho literature of Mars MalS therefore is at a low stage Already letters are coming comins hero asking if IC Mars will wiH make maIm earthquakes on onearth earth carlli or c cyclones cloncs Some of or these were written in fear To all these the tho one answer is is I do llo not know |