Figure 11-12: The Mirage of the Martian Canals Giovanni Schiaparelli studied the Martian surface using a 20-cm (8-in.) telescope, the same size used by many amateur astronomers today. He recorded his observations in drawings like this one, which shows a network of linear features that Percival Lowell and others interpreted as irrigation canals. Later observations with larger telescopes revealed that the “canals” were mere illusions.