Moon mists & Martian vegetation

[Rob_K]

Have been reading a great little book published in 1953, GUIDE TO THE MOON, by Patrick Moore, FRAS. Later Sir Patrick, he became the popular face of astronomy in the second half of the 1900s, through radio, TV & books. Contains many good sections relevant to observing the moon, but there are some conclusions that, well, haven’t really stood the test of time.

Life on Mars: "Because the conditions are right, life has developed. Great darkish tracts, due to vegetation, can be seen with any small telescope. Whether any higher forms of life exist is a question so far unanswered. At present, we have no evidence for or against the existence of advanced forms of life on Mars"

Life on the Moon: "On the whole moon there is no living thing, apart perhaps from a few scattered patches of lichen or moss-type vegetation on the floors of some of the craters."

Moon atmosphere: "Despite the statements so often met with in textbooks, there is a little air left on the moon. However, the atmosphere is extremely thin, and no earth-born creature could possibly breathe it."

Mists on the Moon: "Apart from twilight effects, well-defined mists have been seen on the moon from time to time. They are very slight, and in no way comparable to terrestrial fogs – they certainly do not consist of water vapour – but they appear occasionally, and their reality cannot be questioned." "In 1939, the writer (Moore) was lucky enough to witness a particularly dense one (in Schickard); the whole crater was filled with whitish mist, which concealed all the normal floor-detail and even billowed over the lower sections of the wall." NB ‘Transient Lunar Phenomena’ are still hotly debated today, predominantly in the amateur astronomy community…

Earlier astronomy books give great perspective on how far the science has come in a short time. I wonder how some of our firm beliefs will be viewed in 50 years time?

Cheers -

[ballaratdragons (Ken)]

Originally Posted by Rob_K

Life on Mars: "Because the conditions are right, life has developed. Great darkish tracts, due to vegetation, can be seen with any small telescope"

Life on the Moon: "On the whole moon there is no living thing, apart perhaps from a few scattered patches of lichen or moss-type vegetation on the floors of some of the craters."

Moon atmosphere: "Despite the statements so often met with in textbooks, there is a little air left on the moon"


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Good grief! He was waaayyyy off with the fairies!

[[1ponders] (Paul)]

It's intriguing to read these older books. I've just finished reading a 1960 2nd edition Arthur C. Clark "Interplanetary Flight".

It was originally written in 1950 and updated just prior to the Mercury space flights. It was a fascinating insight into the perceived prospect of mans future journey's in interplanetary flight. If you ever come across it I can thoroughly recommend it.