Astronomical Curiosities: Facts and Fallacies. Gore John Ellard

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СКАЧАТЬ snows in the Tyrol we see violet bells of Soldanella pusilla, the stalks of which make their way through the snow by producing heat which melts it round about them. Finally the Siberian town Verkhociansk, near Yakutsk, exists, though the temperature there falls to -69°·8 C. and the mean temperature of January to -51°·2, and the mean pressure of the vapour of water is less than 0·05mm. It is possible, therefore, that living beings have become adapted to the conditions now prevailing upon Mars after the lapse of many ages, and live at an even lower temperature than upon the earth, developing the necessary heat themselves.”

      M. Rogovsky adds, “Water in organisms is mainly a liquid or solvent, and many other liquids may be the same. We have no reason to believe that life is possible only under the same conditions and with the same chemical composition of organisms as upon the earth, although indeed we cannot affirm that they actually exist on Mars.”104 With the above views the present writer fully concurs.

      Prof. Lowell thinks that the polar regions of Mars, both north and south, are actually warmer than the corresponding regions of the earth, although the mean temperature of the planet is probably twelve degrees lower than the earth’s mean temperature.105

      A writer in Astronomy and Astrophysics (1892, p. 748) says —

      “Whether the planet Mars is inhabited or not seems to be the all-absorbing question with the ordinary reader. With the astronomer this query is almost the last thing about the planet that he would think of when he has an opportunity to study its surface markings … no astronomer claims to know whether the planet is inhabited or not.”

      Several suggestions have been made with reference to the possibility of signalling to Mars. But, as Mr. Larkin of Mount Lowe (U.S.A.) points out, all writers on this subject seem to forget the fact that the night side of two planets are never turned towards each other. “When the sun is between them it is day on the side of Mars which is towards us, and also day on the side of the earth which is towards Mars. When they are on the same side of the sun, it is day on Mars when night on the earth, and for this reason they could never see our signals. This should make it apparent that the task of signalling to Mars is a more difficult one than the most hopeful theorist has probably considered. All this is under the supposition that the Martians (if there are such) are beings like ourselves. If they are not like us, we cannot guess what they are like.”106 These views seem to me to be undoubtedly correct, and show the futility of visual signals. Electricity might, however, be conceivably used for the purpose; but even this seems highly improbable.

      Prof. Newcomb, in his work Astronomy for Everybody, says with reference to this question, “The reader will excuse me from saying nothing in this chapter about the possible inhabitants of Mars. He knows just as much about the subject as I do, and that is nothing at all.”

      It is, however, quite possible that life in some form may exist on Mars. As Lowell well says, “Life but waits in the wings of existence for its cue to enter the scene the moment the stage is set.”107 With reference to the “canals” he says —

      “It is certainly no exaggeration to say that they are the most astonishing objects to be viewed in the heavens. There are celestial sights more dazzling, spectacles that inspire more awe, but to the thoughtful observer who is privileged to see them well, there is nothing in the sky so profoundly impressive as these canals of Mars.”108

      The eminent Swedish physicist Arrhenius thinks that the mean annual temperature on Mars may possibly be as high as 50° F. He says, “Sometimes the snow-caps on the poles of Mars disappear entirely during the Mars summer; this never happens on our terrestrial poles. The mean temperature of Mars must therefore be above zero, probably about +10° [Centigrade = 50° Fahrenheit]. Organic life may very probably thrive, therefore, on Mars.”109 He thinks that this excess of mean temperature above the calculated temperature may be due to an increased amount of carbonic acid in the planet’s atmosphere, and says “any doubling of the percentage of carbon dioxide in the air would raise the temperature of the earth’s surface by 4°; and if the carbon dioxide were increased fourfold, the temperature would rise by 8°.”110

      Denning says, —111

      “A few years ago, when christening celestial formations was more in fashion than it is now, a man simply had to use a telescope for an evening or two on Mars or the moon, and spice the relation of his seeings with something in the way of novelty, when his name would be pretty certainly attached to an object and hung in the heavens for all time! A writer in the Astronomical Register for January, 1879, humorously suggested that ‘the matter should be put into the hands of an advertising agent,’ and ‘made the means of raising a revenue for astronomical purposes.’ Some men would not object to pay handsomely for the distinction of having their names applied to the seas and continents of Mars or the craters of the moon.”

      An occultation of Mars by the moon is recorded by Aristotle as having occurred on April 4, 357 B.C.112

      Seen from Mars the maximum apparent distance between the earth and moon would vary from 3½′ to nearly 17′.113

       CHAPTER VII

      The Minor Planets

      Up to 1908 the number of minor planets (or asteroids) certainly known amounted to over 650.

      From an examination of the distribution of the first 512 of these small bodies, Dr. P. Stroobant finds that a decided maximum in number occurs between the limits of distance of 2·55 and 2·85 (earth’s mean distance from sun = 1), “199 of the asteroids considered revolving in this annulus.” He finds that nearly all the asteroidal matter is concentrated near to the middle of the ring in the neighbourhood of the mean distance of 2·7, and the smallest asteroids are relatively less numerous in the richest zones.114

      There are some “striking similarities” in the orbits of some of the asteroids. Thus, in the small planets Sophia (No. 251 in order of discovery) and Magdalena (No. 318) we have the mean distance of Sophia 3·10, and that of Magdalena 3·19 (earth’s mean distance = 1). The eccentricities of the orbits are 0·09 and 0·07; and the inclinations of the orbits to the plane of the ecliptic 10° 29′ and 10° 33′ respectively.115 This similarity may be – and probably is – merely accidental, but it is none the less curious and interesting.

      Some very interesting discoveries have recently been made among the minor planets. The orbit of Eros intersects the orbit of Mars; and the following have nearly the same mean distance from the sun as Jupiter: —

      Achilles (1906 TG), No. 588,

      Patrocles (1906 XY), No. 617,

      Hector (1907 XM), No. 624,

      and another (No. 659) has been recently found. Each of these small planets “moves approximately in a vertex of an equilateral triangle that it forms with Jupiter and the sun.”116 The minor planet known provisionally as HN is remarkable for the large eccentricity of its orbit (0·38), and its small perihelion distance (1·6). When discovered it had a very high South Declination (61½°), showing that the inclination of the plane of its orbit to the plane СКАЧАТЬ