L'existence des Sélénites
L'existence des Sélénites
De nombreux ouvrages de fiction ont évoqué l'existence des Sélénites. Mais l'hypothèse est retenue par un certain nombre d'ouvrages scientifiques.
D'Alembert (vers 1850-1860)
Ainsi, D'Alembert, dans son article "Lune" (Encyclopédie de Diderot et d'Alembert, tome 9, p. 137) l'évoque à plusieurs reprises : " pourquoi ne conclurions-nous donc pas qu'il y a des plantes et des animaux dans la lune ?" Il ajoute qu'il y a "une présomption bien forte" pour qu'il en soit ainsi. Il fait donc de cette idée plus qu'un outil polémique au service de la fameuse "pluralité des mondes" de Fontenelle. Les Sélénites pourraient peut-être observer la terre comme nous observons la lune. Pour Diderot, ce n'est pas une idée fantaisiste. Il est tout à fait raisonnable d'envisager cette possibilité.
Franz von Gruithuisen (1824)
....Which brings us to the most famous lunar astronomer of his time, at least for a while, Franz von Gruithuisen. Though trained as a medical doctor, von Gruithuisen was one of the most prolific astronomers of the 19th century with hundreds of scientific papers and acting as editor to three astronomy journals at the same time. He was also a keen supporter of Johann Schroter and his Selenites. In 1821, von Gruithuisen wrote a paper defending Shroter's theories about lunar life and even argued for the existence of lunar lakes and a rarified lunar atmosphere. In 1824, he published one of his most famous papers, "Discovery of Many Distinct Traces of Lunar Inhabitants, Especially One of Their Colossal Buildings." Based on various features he had seen on the Moon's surface, including how they changed colour with light, von Gruithuisen argued for a wide belt of lunar vegetation around the equator extending "55 degrees to the south and 645 degrees to the north." He also identified lunar crossing sites along which animals migrated. While von Gruithuisen added a caution that there were limits to what was possible with telescopes, he then described various spots on the Moon's surface which he insisted were roads, walls, fortresses and even cities. His discovery of a star-shaped structure on the Moon led him to speculate that it could be a temple and that the Selenites had their own religion.
The astounding finds von Gruithuisen reported in his paper attracted attention across Europe. The fame from his paper was enough to get him appointed professor of astronomy at the University of Munich though this faded quickly enough. In the meantime, von Gruithuisen wrote other papers arguing for the existence of life on Mercury, Venus and the comets. He was particularly fascinated with Venus and the "ashen light" previous astronomers had seen on the dark part of the planet. Not only did he consider this proof of life, but von Gruithuisen argued that these showed that Venusians held enormous "fire festivals" to mark important occasions in the Venusian civilization.
Unfortunately for von Gruithuisen, his findings about the Moon and Venus were not supported by other astronomers with more powerful telescopes. Carl Friedrich Gauss, the eminent mathematician and.... (Providentia - The Moon Men)
- Discovery of Many Distinct Traces of Lunar Inhabitants, Especially of One of Their Colossal Buildings, 1824.
Great Moon Hoax (1835)
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The articles described fantastic animals on the Moon, including bison, goats, unicorns, bipedal tail-less beavers and bat-like winged humanoids ("Vespertilio-homo") who built temples. There were trees, oceans and beaches. These discoveries were supposedly made with "an immense telescope of an entirely new principle."
The author of the narrative was ostensibly Dr. Andrew Grant, the travelling companion and amanuensis of Sir John Herschel, but Grant was fictitious.
Eventually, the authors announced that the observations had been terminated by the destruction of the telescope, by means of the Sun causing the lens to act as a "burning glass," setting fire to the observatory.[2]
Wikipedia
William Henry Pickering (....)
Le cratère Eratostène... jardin
H Percy Wilking (1953)
Un pont aurait été construit entre deux caps de Mare Crisium
Great Moon Hoax 1835 Wikipedia
2013
