gravity anomaly during solar eclipse.

diabolic

Hi all,

http://www.newscientist.com/article/...y-anomaly.html

the link given above elucidates that the gravity falls during the solar eclipse. I could not understand the logic. Can some one help me in understating the reason for this? why such discrepancy happens only during the solar eclipse why not during the new moon…. If duing the solar eclipse gravity falls then will there be an increase in gravity duing lunar eclipse?

fleem

In the article I saw no answers to your questions. The article gives me the impression that there aren't really any guesses yet as to why there would be such an anomaly. It looks like a good experiment, though. The rumors of such an anomaly do need to be resolved first, before anybody starts working hard theorizing why there would be an anomaly.

diabolic

Well I never told that there is an answer for the anomalies…. This paper just tells that the there is anomalies. I wanted to know why? as it is against my conventional thinking as I see g=Me/r^2

This leaves me that g should be constant and should not vary with eclipse.

Stratosphere

Are you sure that that formula is correct? I've never come across one like that, the closest I've seen is, g=(mG)/r[tex]^{2}[/tex].

diabolic

Well even I meant the same….

I wanted to write gravity is proportional to mass of earth and inversely proportional to square of its radius.

Sorry!

This looks more like a Force formula

[tex]F=\frac{GM_{e}M_{o}}{R^2}[/tex]
G is universal constant
Me = Mass of earth
Mo = Mass of object
R = Distance BETWEEN both objects as measured from centre to centre

The GPE equation is similar only its referenced differently. So it is all negative and it is divided by just the distance between objects not the squared distance.

flatmaster

You have a small force vector from the moon's gravity. You should experience nearly the same effect if the moon was nearly in the same direction of the sun from earth, but not necessarily eclipsing.

This wouldn't explain the phenomena in the article though. You should just be a bit lighter that day.

diabolic

How much lighter?

One of the article claims it is less by ~8x10^-8 cm/s^2 ; but it will not match up right? Or have I missed some thing…..

Borg

I don't know what the numbers are on this - it's just a thought. Is it possible that the sun's gravitational waves are rippling around the moon resulting in positive and negative wave reinforcement such that it is only strong enough to be observable when you are directly behind the moon with respect to the sun and at just the right distance from the moon?

Vanadium 50

This includes at least four suppositions without any support by data.

Borg

Could you elaborate on what makes this a wrong idea? I really would like to know where I'm not thinking correctly.

flatmaster

The gravitational pull of a chunk of mass in china makes it's way through the earth just fine to exert it's gravitational force on you. I wouldn't expect the moon to act any differently.

flatmaster

F=ma=GMm/r^2

gmoon = GM/r^2

G = grav constant
M = Moon mass
r = radius of moon's orbit minus earth's radius. I'll plug and chug

flatmaster

I get 3.8 EE-5 ms^-2, so that's about the same as the number above. They might have used perigee vs apogee.

That's about 4 millionth's of g.

So basically nothing.

diabolic

http://arxiv.org/abs/gr-qc/0408023

I doubt the answer is so straight forward. Please look at some of the conventional explanations of anomalous observations during solar eclipses.

If u think that force of moon has changed the gravity on earth why is that gravity did not increase during lunar eclipse?

Phrak

Without having read the article, is the measured error induced by wishful thinking diminutive to systemic error?

-but perhaps my question should reside in the social science folder.

Chronos

Its an old wives tale, nothing gravitationally exceptional occurs during an eclipse. The paper you cite is . . . suspect.