MadSci Network: Astronomy |
The answer to your question is "sort of". While I hate to sound like I'm
running for office, it depends on what you mean by "accurate". The maps of
Mars made by Schiaparelli and others were certainly quite good given the
telescopes of the time. But they often also saw details that were not
really there, as well. Schiaparelli is, as you may recall, the person who
first claimed to have seen "canali" (Italian for "channels") on Mars's
surface. Later, Lowell also drew maps of Mars showing canals which he was
convinced were there. So you should not believe everything you see in
their maps, but as you can see, they also were not incredibly far off.
Here's a map drawn by Schiaparelli:
And here is a map drawn by Lowell, along with a photgraph of Mars. Notice
that they looked a lot alike, if you ignore the "canals"
(figure borrowed, with permission, from
Modern maps of Mars, or of any planets, are a lot more accurate
thanks largely to our spacecraft images. But the fact that these men drew
their
maps by hand based on staring through a telescope in a cold observatory
night after night should make us appriciate how dedicated they were and how
remarkable their work is.
Hope this helps!
Try the links in the MadSci Library for more information on Astronomy.