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Mars
has NO CANALS
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A tale of miscommunication
and influence
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Martian day similar to Earth
day
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Seasonal variation on Mars
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what causes seasons?
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polar caps shrink in Martian
summer
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dark markings stand out more,
look greenish
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People wondered if Mars had
life like Earth
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Early telescopic views of
Mars were fuzzy
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Observations made by eye,
recorded with hand drawing
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Eye plays tricks
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Hand drawings are schematic
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However, rotation, period,
axis could be measured repeatably
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Giovanni Schiaparelli in
1877 "discovered" canals
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saw 40 straight line features
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called them "canali" which
is Italian for "channels"
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Millionaire Percival Lowell
built observatory to study canals
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saw 160 canals
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Lowell observatory still
prestigious today
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H.G. Wells War of the
Worlds published in 1898
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Edward Barnard, 1894 "to
save my soul, I can't believe in the canals as Schiaparelli draws them."
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hushed up observations of
craters
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craters would suggest dead,
moon-like surface
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Eugene Antoniadi ~1920 debunked
canal myth
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showed "canals" are unconnected
dark spots
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