Chapter XIV: My Own Work

_Snow caps of solid carbonic acid gas, a planet cracked in
a positively monomaniacal manner meteors ploughing tracks
across its surface with such mathematical precision that
they must have been educated to the performance, and so
forth and so on, in hypotheses each more astounding than
its predecessor, commend themselves to man, if only by such
means he may escape the admission of anything approaching
his kind._

PERCIVAL LOWELL.

I am led to present these few brief memoranda of my own work in order to meet questions which would naturally be asked as to whether I had ever seen Mars through a telescope, and if so did I make out any markings or canals.

DOME OF THE LOWELL OBSERVATORY, FLAGSTAFF, ARIZONA]

It was my good fortune to have the privilege of observing Mars every night at the Lowell Observatory (see Plate VII) for thirty-four days, covering an almost complete presentation of the planet. A few nights were cloudy and no observations were made. With these exceptions I was in the observer's chair several times each evening. The twenty-four inch refractor of which I had the use was the last telescope Clark ever made, and he pronounced it his best one. This instrument (Plate VIII) is mounted on a mesa near the town of Flagstaff, Arizona, at a height of over 7,000 feet above sea-level, in an atmosphere of remarkable clarity and steadiness. I have already stated on page 80 my first experiences in observing and will only present the brief notes I made at the time of observation. Better results would have accompanied these efforts had I followed the custom of Michael Faraday and asked what was I to look at, what was I expected to see? I had been somewhat prejudiced as to the existence of the canals by the comments of sporadic observers, many of whom, by the way, had never been able to see them, and denying that any one else ever had, straightway proceeded to suggest a theory to explain their presence! Careful to avoid any bias in the matter I rigidly refused to allow either Professor Lowell or his assistants to suggest where I might find a canal or a marking on the disk. The night before I left the Observatory for home I asked Mr. Lowell for the first time, to indicate the position of some conspicuous canal which I had not seen. This he did and examining the region which I supposed he had indicated on the disk I searched in vain for the line. In doing so another line was detected and drawn, and on confessing my failure to see the line he had described, showed him my drawing, when he exclaimed, "Why, you have got it," and sure enough when he showed me his drawing and repeated the directions he had given me, I found that I had been looking at the wrong pole of the planet.

TWENTY-FOUR INCH TELESCOPE OF THE LOWELL OBSERVATORY, FLAGSTAFF, ARIZONA]

In one stage of great discouragement I came across a statement made by Mr. A. Stanley Williams which has already been quoted, namely, that he had to observe continually for two months before sufficient sensitiveness enabled him to make out the more delicate markings. That I might have seen more had I been acclimated, and had been accustomed to telescopic observation there is no doubt. The record is poor enough and yet under the conditions mentioned the results may be of interest to the reader.

May 14. Midnight. Saw planet for the first time. A beautiful
luminous disk with shades of tone dimly visible. Southern
pole cap white and seen.

May 15. Certain details sufficiently distinct to make out dark
areas, and at times a line or two.

May 16. Occasional flashes of a few lines, while broad darkened
area and cuniform area on right visible, and, in one flash,
a line supporting the wedge as well as basal line. With no
better seeing conditions than last night, more details came
out, and for the first time I am encouraged to believe that
each day an improvement will take place. I saw enough to
make my first drawing.

May 17. Bad seeing. I made out only the broad southern band,
the line at the northern pole and the wedge-shaped area to
the right below, also a slight discoloration in the middle.

May 18. Not very good seeing. Could make out but little more
than I did last night.

May 19. Seeing about the same, perhaps slightly less. Saw rift
in southern dark band and north pole appeared luminous.

May 20. Mr. Lowell informed me this morning that the luminous
appearance around the north pole that I saw last night
was the result of a snowstorm. Seeing fair. Considerable
vibration of planet. Saw new snow field of the northern
pole distinctly outlined and much confused markings. Looked
in vain for spots but could not discern them.

May 21. Seeing clearer, and for the first time I made out
distinctly two spots, or oases. Mr. Lowell informed me that
Schiaparelli had never seen them. The snow which fell on
May 19 was still conspicuous.

May 22. With a headache and a seedy condition from not being
acclimated, I yet found an improvement in my seeing
capacities. I made out a promontory in the southern dark
belt, also a canal running down from the Trivium.

May 23. Bad seeing. Could not define snow cap though dark
southern band showed. Made no drawing.

May 24. Am in despair of seeing anything when the others see so
much. I must have an old and worn-out retina. In looking,
lines flash out at times but it is impossible to locate
them. I can certainly see more than Huyghens did, but not
much more.

May 25. Heavens very cloudy and Mars obscured.

May 26. Poor seeing--saw but a few markings.

May 27. Snow and hail storm in the afternoon. Temperature 35°
at night. Seeing zero, and consequently no observation.

May 30. To-night markings and more particularly shades seemed
abundant yet so evanescent that only an intimate knowledge
by long study could define them. I gave up in despair.

May 31. Saw a little more than I saw last night but did not see
a trace of things that Mr. Lowell and his assistants
apparently saw without effort. I realize that it requires
a special training to observe the flickering evanescent
markings on Mars.

June 1. Though the best night yet for steady atmosphere I saw
but little more and have come to the conclusion that it
will take months of continuous observation before I can see
anything.

June 2. I went to the Observatory to-night in despair of ever
seeing anything more. Got into the observing chair and
immediately saw a number of markings I had not seen before,
as my drawings show. I have purposely refrained from
studying the maps, and so do not know the names of the
lines detected.

June 3. Atmosphere so unsteady that it was impossible to make
anything out of Mars, so after struggling awhile gave it up
in disgust.

June 4. Seeing about 4, yet manage to see a few planetary
details.

June 5. I find a slow advance in my ability to see the markings
though it is exasperating that the janitor of the
Observatory talks about plainly seeing certain details
which he indicates to me by a sketch, and looking at the
region I can see no trace of a canal or anything else.

June 7. Seeing very good and in my observations tonight added
another canal. It is a most difficult matter to catch the
fleeting lines as they appear with startling distinctness
to instantly vanish again.

June 9. Seeing fairly good. Could make out but little more.
Color of regions very strong and vivid.

June 10. Seeing a little better than last night. Added three new
canals, and these canals flashed out three or four times
before I was willing to record them, and then I did not
believe them till Mr. Lowell showed me a drawing he had
made just before, and the two drawings corresponded.

June 11. Looked at eight o'clock and the markings of larger
features came out strong and dark and yet the seeing was
not estimated high.

June 12. Rather poor seeing though some of the dark regions came
out with remarkable distinctness. Every day I notice a very
slight improvement in detecting lines. Markings formerly
made out with great difficulty are now instantly recognized.

June 13. In my observations to-night added one new canal and
completed another, and was able to detect one that Mr.
Lowell had not seen during the evening--a well-known one he
says. It simply shows that one must continually observe as
the lines flash out for a single instant.

June 14. Made out still another canal to-night. The markings
show very clear, in fact some parts were vivid in
distinctness and the lower part of Syrtis Major dark blue.

June 15. Poor seeing, yet I was able to see a few of the
prominent features and defined the wedge-shaped region
below.

On Plate IX I give a few of my drawings of Mars in which are indicated the lines I saw many times and was able to fix. Other lines flashed out for an instant but these were not recorded, simply because I could not definitely locate them.

MAY 19

MAY 22 Snow fell May 19

JUNE 5

JUNE 9-10

JUNE 13

JUNE 11-13

DRAWINGS OF CANALS OF MARS BY THE AUTHOR]

The expression "poor seeing" in the above notes must be taken in a comparative sense with relation to the usual conditions of the atmosphere of Flagstaff. Poor seeing, therefore, at Flagstaff would be equal, if not superior, to the best seeing at much lower levels. An astronomer who resigned his position in a western observatory for duties at Mount Wilson, California, told me that for thirty consecutive nights the seeing was superior to the best nights he had observed in at his former post.