THE PLANET MARS
THE inhabitants of the Earth are at last beginning to take some
interest in the sky. Tired of living as blind strangers to their
own country, they are beginning to know that the world on which
they move about is a planet gravitating round the Sun, and that
other sister-planets swing round at the same time in the harmony of
the solar system. Mars is now spoken of in public as one speaks of
politics and of socialism. In America as well as in Europe, at Buenos
Ayres, Mexico, or Caracas, as well as at Paris, Milan, Petrograd,
Budapest, and Stockholm, the latest telescopic results are discussed.
It is known that this neighbouring planet sometimes approaches the
Earth within 37½ or even 35 million miles; that astronomers have
their eyes on the planet and that they have observed luminous flashes
on it, the explanation of which is puzzling them. People remember
that in a certain year, 1877, the planet being in its greatest
proximity, straight lines resembling canals were discovered, and
that the question of possible inhabitants of this new country and
future communication with them has been raised. Questions are put and
answers are given, discussions give rise to curious confusions and
exaggerations, but the net result is that an interest is created in
these high questions which raise us above the vulgarities of ordinary
life, and a general knowledge of the universe is advanced. That is the
main thing.
The last occasions on which Mars was in close proximity to us were
1897, 1899, and 1909.
This remarkable development of public curiosity is easily explained
by the marvellous achievements of contemporary astronomy and the
admirable precision of certain results obtained. Unless one has a stone
instead of a heart and a lump of fat in the place of a brain, it is
difficult not to feel some emotion over the achievements of science. If
we declare, for instance, that we know the general geography of Mars
better than we do that of our own planet, the listener or reader is at
first inclined to be somewhat sceptical. But if we show him, either in
a telescope or in a diagram, the snows of the north or south poles of
Mars, he will admit that nobody has as yet had a complete view of these
regions on the Earth, in spite of the discoveries of polar explorers,
and he will be convinced that we do know those Martian regions better
than our own poles. That is already a fact of some interest; but we
can go farther than that.
It is not only the pole, but the whole surrounding country that is
better known on Mars than on the Earth, not only from the geographical,
but also from the meteorological point of view. Thus, for instance,
we can almost constantly measure the extent of the polar snows, and
we find that it varies with the seasons. We see with our own eyes the
melting of these snows taking place very rapidly under the light and
heat of the Sun, night after night, so to speak, during a summer which
is twice as long as ours. The snows disappear almost entirely, and only
a little ice remains on a region which we know, and which represents
the pole of extreme cold, situated 212 miles from the geographical
pole. In spite of the perseverance and heroism of arctic explorers,
none of these climatological facts have been witnessed on Earth. It
is possible that the Martians are ignorant of their own phenomena if
they have been unable to reach their poles. Still, since their poles
are free at the end of the summer, they are much better able than
we to explore their polar regions. We may say that in general the
meteorology and climatology of Mars are better known than those of
the Earth. At the time when you read these lines you do not know, and
nobody can tell you, what sort of weather you will have to-morrow.
But we do know almost certainly what the weather will be to-morrow,
next week, next month, on such and such a region on Mars: if we do not
wait till the winter comes, we know that it will be fine. Hardly do
we see a cloud between the vernal equinox and the autumnal equinox,
neither in the equatorial nor the temperate regions, and hardly even
in the circumpolar regions. If we are unable to make a drawing of the
telescopic image of the planet, the difficulty hardly ever arises
from the Martian atmosphere, but from our own, which is so often
overcast or turbid. All the geographical configurations, seas, rivers,
plains, covered with vegetation according to the moisture available,
water-courses varying with the seasons, canals and oases, are mapped
out with precision; we know in advance which country will pass across
the field of our telescope; and the period of rotation, as already
mentioned, is known to the 100th of a second. It is 24 hours 37 minutes
22.58 seconds. We also know that the Martian year contains 59,355,041
seconds, i.e. 686 terrestrial days 23 hours 30 minutes 41 seconds.
But since that planet turns on its axis a little more slowly than the
Earth, there are only 668 Martian days in the Martian year. In fact
the Martian calendar is composed of two successive years of 668 days
and a leap year of 669 days. As in our case, there is no exact number
of days in the Martian year. Perhaps their calendar has also been
reformed several times without being made perfect. But let us hope
that they are not as stupid as we, with our months of 28, 29, 30, and
31 days, and calling the ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth month the
seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth respectively; with our disagreement
about dates, Russia only arriving at the 1st of January when the rest
of the civilised world has reached the 14th; with our three kinds of
days: the civil day which commences at midnight, the astronomical day
which commences the next midday, and the naval day which commences the
previous midday; we who waited thousands of years before we could fix
an exact hour, because we counted from conventional meridians, and
the various countries could not agree upon the single meridian. Being
probably more advanced than ourselves in its planetary age, Martian
humanity is most likely more reasonable and is not mixed up with the
littleness of frontiers, dialects, customs, national rivalries, etc.
For a long time already, no doubt they form a simple unit. One may
also suppose that they do not celebrate their new-year festival and
its rejoicings amid the winter frosts, but in the hopeful days of the
equinox.
* * * * *
One of the most curious observations which have been made on this
neighbouring planet, or rather which have, apart from the canals,
attracted the greatest attention, is that of the luminous flashes. It
has been said that these flashes are all seen at the edge of the disc,
or beyond it. This is not correct; they show themselves on the line
which separates the hemisphere illuminated by the Sun from the dark
hemisphere--the line called the “terminator.” They are only seen when
the globe of Mars offers a sensible phase, and only along the line of
that terminator.
The phenomenon is a slight projection, swelling, or puffing-up of
the terminator. It is not a more extraordinary observation than that
of the irregularities in the lunar diameter at certain phases: the
Sun illuminates, either before its rising or before its setting, the
summits of mountains whose bases are still in darkness, and such
summits sometimes appear on the Moon as luminous points detached from
the disc. Some fertile imaginations have interpreted these flashes as
forests on fire or as signals sent out by the Martians. This is going
too far. But the possibility of the population of Mars by a human
species more intelligent than ours is quite a natural conclusion from
the observations. One may also guess without scientific heresy that
the canals of Mars are rivers straightened with a deliberate intention
of distributing water which has become a rarity over that planet. The
astronomers who deny these possibilities show a very poor spirit. But,
on the other hand, there is no reason to see nothing on that world
but human activity. Among several explanations of observed phenomena
one must always prefer the simplest. In the case of luminous dashes on
the terminator, the illumination of mountain-tops or clouds by the Sun
suffices to account for them.
Doubts were raised concerning this explanation by the height of 200,000
feet found by an astronomer for the elevation of these mountains. I
went over the calculation and found only 15,000 feet. These mountains
would not therefore be higher than Mont Blanc, and perhaps less. We
should also remember that those luminous projections appear every time
that the planet returns to the same condition of illumination with
regard to the Earth. They were observed in 1890, 1892, 1894, 1899,
1907, 1909, 1911, 1913, etc. The regions where they appear are a sort
of island called Noachis, another called Hesperia, and a third called
Tempe. According to all appearances, we have to do with high mountains
covered with snow and with still higher clouds.
* * * * *
The epoch at which the inhabitants of Mars can communicate with us
has not yet arrived, or perhaps it has already passed away. All
cosmological studies agree in presenting this planet as older than
ours, since it is farther from the Sun, and as having passed through
its phases of astral life more rapidly than we, on account of its
smallness and lightness. We cannot pretend to know the forms which
living beings may have assumed there; but we cannot imagine, on the
other hand, that the forces of nature, being the same as here and
exercised under almost identical conditions (atmosphere, climate,
seasons, water, vapours, etc.), have been sterilised by a perpetual
miracle of annihilation while on Earth the cup of life overflows all
round and the generative force of living beings everywhere surpasses
continual and permanent production. But whatever may be the forms of
Martian humanity, they must be superior to us, for several reasons. The
first of these is that it would be difficult for a human species to be
less intelligent than ours, because we do not know how to behave and
three-quarters of our resources are employed for feeding soldiers.
The second reason is that progress is an absolute law which nothing can
resist. If therefore the inhabitants of Mars have passed their infancy,
the centuries have brought them to an age of reason, and their present
state represents what our race will be in several million years.
A third circumstance is that they are better situated than ourselves
for escaping from the heaviness of matter. A given bulk of water,
earth, or other substance is only seven-tenths of the weight it is
here; 1,000 grammes taken to Mars would only weigh 376 grammes there;
and the woman weighing 8 stone would only weigh 3 stone there.
And, finally, the climatic conditions appear to be much more agreeable
there.
* * * * *
Those are all advantages in favour of the Martians. If, therefore, the
idea has occurred to them to make signals to us, it is probably not at
the present time. There is no reason that they should think of it at
the same time as we and should wait for us. Perhaps they tried 200,000
or 300,000 years ago, before the appearance of man, at the time of the
cave-bear or the mammoth. Perhaps they addressed themselves to our
planet at the time of the Iguanodon and the Dinosaurus. Perhaps they
tried again 2,000 or 3,000 years ago. Never having seen any sign of
life, they will have concluded that either there are no inhabitants on
the Earth, or that they are busy with other things besides the study
of the universe and eternal truths. That was true yesterday--and it is
true to-day.
VI. THE GIANT WORLD
OF JUPITER