MARS - Observation - Exploring The Planets

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Lowell Observatory Photo
Percival Lowell (1855-1916) is one of the best known observers of the planet Mars. Lowell is pictured here in the observer's chair of the 61-centimeter (24-inch) refracting telescope in the observatory he established in Flagstaff, Arizona. Lowell Observatory is still one of the foremost sites for telescopic studies of Mars and the other planets.

The Canals of Mars

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Smithsonian Institution photograph, ID# W1998EP0001
-Globe loaned by Lowell Observatory

Percival Lowell made this globe of Mars summarizing his observations of the planet for the year 1901.

The straight lines represent features that were first "seen" by the Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli in 1877. He called them canali, an Italian word meaning channels. The canali were also observed by Lowell who concluded they were canals built by intelligent beings. The canals supposedly supplied water from the melting polar caps to a desert world.

In his book "Mars as the Abode of Life", published in 1908, Percival Lowell presented his theory that Mars' canals were built by intelligent beings.

Today we know that there are no canals built by intelligent beings on Mars and that Lowell was mistaken in his conclusions. See The Surface of Mars-Water.


	Four faces of Mars
	71k GIF - 15k JPEG Lowell Observatory photo.	These views of Mars, taken on the same night, show four different faces of the planet. The white spot at the bottom of the pictures is the south polar hood.

	Seasons on Mars
	15k GIF - 14k JPEG Lowell Observatory photo.	These views of Mars are of the same face seen in different seasons. Several seasonal changes can be seen. The dark surfaces change in shape and color. The south polar hood shrinks to a tiny polar cap. For more on the seasons on Mars, go to the Seasons on Mars page.

	Hubble Telescope View
	13k JPEG Space Telescope Science Institute	White clouds are visible in this view of Mars from the Hubble Space Telescope.


57k GIF - 2k JPEG NASA Press Release Image #77-HC-312.	This picture of Mars was taken from a distance of 418,000 kilometers (260,000 miles) by the Viking 2 spacecraft. Near the center of the picture is the large volcano Ascraeus Mons. A bright band of clouds trails off to the northwest from the volcano's summit.


148 k GIF - 37 k JPEG Lowell Observatory Photo	Percival Lowell (1855-1916) is one of the best known observers of the planet Mars. Lowell is pictured here in the observer's chair of the 61-centimeter (24-inch) refracting telescope in the observatory he established in Flagstaff, Arizona. Lowell Observatory is still one of the foremost sites for telescopic studies of Mars and the other planets.