Abstract | Natural Philosophers Database

An Assessment of the Gravity Data Collected at the Mohe Observation Center in China during the March 9, 1997 Total Solar Eclipse

Bill Stubbs

Year: 2013 Pages: 6

Keywords: gravity, wang eclipse, gravity anomalies, speed of gravity

An assessment was done of the gravity data collected at the Mohe Observation Center in China during the March 9, 1997 total solar eclipse. After a search for the original tabulated measured data proved unsuccessful, the data was reconstituted by extracting values from a graph of the data found in a report. The reconstituted measured gravity values were processed by removing an approximation of what the gravity would have been had no eclipse occurred, leaving values of the gravity caused by the eclipse. These values were plotted and analyzed. The plot shows that, contrary to previous claims, there does not appear to be any anomalies in the data. The graph also suggests that the gravimeter collecting the data sensed the eclipse about eight minutes before it was visually noticeable. Based on the gravity profile of the eclipse, it appears to have behaved as expected.