What did Lowell's detailed seasonal charts track regarding the canals?
Answer
The perceived appearance, disappearance, and seasonal shifting of canal segments.
Lowell published seasonal charts tracking the perceived changes in the canals—lines appearing or disappearing across Martian oppositions—which he interpreted as evidence of active repair by civilization.
Related Questions
What did Giovanni Schiaparelli originally call the linear features he observed on Mars in 1877?What English word replaced Schiaparelli's original term, carrying a strong connotation of artificial construction?What did Percival Lowell specifically theorize the Martian canals were built for?In what year and location did Percival Lowell establish the Lowell Observatory?By what decade had improved telescope optics and atmospheric understanding caused the perceived canal network to thin out considerably?What phenomenon is sometimes cited as the likely mechanism by which the human brain perceived the indistinct Martian markings as straight lines?What natural Martian features, rather than constructed networks, were revealed by high-resolution images from the Mariner missions?What key methodological contribution did Lowell's extensive, albeit flawed, work provide to planetary astronomy?What did Lowell's detailed seasonal charts track regarding the canals?What was Schiaparelli's original intention behind labeling the features *canali*?