I may end up running a Sherlock Holmes-Space 1889 crossover for my gaming group and was wondering about the appearance of a habitable Mars to late 19th Century telescopes.
My specific questions involve city lights and thunderstorms.
Given that my alternate Mars is very Earthlike - big oceans, modest ice caps, Earth-like coloring - would it be feasible for 19th Century Earth telescopes to spot the city lights of Martians who, coincidentally, use 19th Century-type gas lights? Or would the cities be too dark?
Similar questions about lightning. I've seen some spectacular videos of lightning storms from the ISS, but would such lightning be visible on Mars with 19th Century telescopes?
I guess a persistent problem is that Earth observers would primarily see Mars' dayside and not much of its night, given that Mars is further from the Sun than Earth.
My specific questions involve city lights and thunderstorms.
Given that my alternate Mars is very Earthlike - big oceans, modest ice caps, Earth-like coloring - would it be feasible for 19th Century Earth telescopes to spot the city lights of Martians who, coincidentally, use 19th Century-type gas lights? Or would the cities be too dark?
Similar questions about lightning. I've seen some spectacular videos of lightning storms from the ISS, but would such lightning be visible on Mars with 19th Century telescopes?
I guess a persistent problem is that Earth observers would primarily see Mars' dayside and not much of its night, given that Mars is further from the Sun than Earth.
Mike Miller, Materials Engineer
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"Everbody's always in favor of saving Hitler's brain, but when you put it in the body of a great white shark, oh, suddenly you've gone too far." -- Professor Farnsworth, Futurama
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"Everbody's always in favor of saving Hitler's brain, but when you put it in the body of a great white shark, oh, suddenly you've gone too far." -- Professor Farnsworth, Futurama