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Earth's gravity and solar eclipse

A team of Chinese scientists is planning to conduct a once-in-a-century experiment on July 22, the day of the total solar eclipse, which would test the controversial theory that gravity drops slightly during a total eclipse.

According to a report in New Scientist, geophysicists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences are preparing an unprecedented array of highly sensitive instruments at six sites across the country to take gravity readings during the total eclipse due to pass over southern China on July 22.

The results, which will be analyzed in the coming months, could confirm once and for all that anomalous fluctuations observed during past eclipses are real.

The first sign that gravity fluctuates during an eclipse was in 1954, when French economist and physicist Maurice Allais noticed erratic behaviour in a swinging pendulum when an eclipse passed over Paris.

Pendulums typically swing back and forth as a result of gravity and the rotation of the Earth. At the start of the eclipse, however, the pendulum's swing direction shifted violently, suggesting a sudden change in gravitational pull.

In the run up to July's eclipse, Chinese researchers have prepared eight gravimeters and two pendulums spread across six monitoring sites.

At over five minutes, the event will be the longest total solar eclipse predicted for this century.
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Comments

2 Responses to “Earth's gravity and solar eclipse”

Anonymous said...
July 23, 2009 at 1:54 PM

There are theories about the cause of gravity,here is just one explanation which makes obvious the cause of the change in gravity during the eclipse. It may be false or it may be true or partly true.

Gravity is experienced due to mass, but mass is not the cause.
Some force is abundant throughout the universe,it travels like light(the speed of gravity has been determined to be about the speed of light),what it is has yet to be determined.
This force can travel through objects like xrays through an egg

Put an object into the void of space,ie the sun
The force hits from all directions, result equallibrium
Place the earth distance one Au.
The sun blocks ,either partially or fully this force from one direction.On a much smaller scale the earth blocks some for the Sun also.
The result Earth falls towards Sun (falling = orbit due to motion)
Earth and moon do the same dance.

Now picture from Earth the moon just before it passes the Sun.
Everything is normal, but when the moon becomes between earth and Sun, if the Sun totally or near totally blocks this force and there is none or little left for the Moon,hence at this point the Moon has less effect.

If this is the case the universe would keep itself together without 'dark matter', and gravitons would pop out of existence


Redphos

Shabnam Sultan said...
July 24, 2009 at 12:59 AM

Thanks, for your wonderful post.

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