Apparent canals on Mars has been an exciting topic at different points in history, and they might actually allow an interesting peek into the planet's past. advertisement. Sciencing.

Images of Mars taken from orbiting spacecraft suggest water may periodically appear on the planet’s surface. Over 100 years ago, Percival Lowell thought the “canals” on Mars were evidence of ...

But mass speculation over Mars's habitability, and indeed its potential for watery canals, has its roots before we ever made it close to the planet, back in Schiaparelli's 19th century.

So, along comes Lowell, who takes the idea of "canals" on Mars and gets … a bit carried away with it. In 1894 he built the Lowell Observatory in Arizona, with a world-class telescope, so he ...

In the 19th century, Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli thought he spotted canals on Mars through his telescope. Since then, we’ve seen lots of things on the Red Planet that aren’t ...

Now you can explore maps of Mars from the past, as well as view “live” footage and get a guided audio tour from Bill Nye the Science Guy, as Google announced today. My favorite new feature is ...

If Mars ever had oceans, lakes or rivers, then it may also have had life as we know it. Indications of liquid water on the Red Planet have tantalized scientists for well over a century.

More than a hundred years ago, astronomer Percival Lowell made the case for the existence of canals on Mars designed to redistribute water from the Martian ice caps to its lower, drier latitudes.