Solar eclipse image taken aboard Gemini 12. Click on image for full size (44K JPG) Courtesy of NASA

It will take many more months before the verdict is in, but scientists are already contemplating some new information. The last solar eclipse of the millennium served as a great opportunity to test a phenomenon discovered by Maurice Allais in 1954. Allais believed that a solar eclipse can affect Earth's gravity.

David Doever of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Centre in Huntsville, and his partner, Ron Koczor, have received most of the data. Pendulums were set up in various countries, with some in the path of the eclipse and others not. Some of the preliminary results are interesting.

Video cameras taped the pendulum movements before, during and after the solar eclipse. Although no change was viewed in the pendulums outside of the eclipse path, two different sites in Europe revealed exciting results. These researchers, which were inside the path of the eclipse, discovered a change in the pendulum's path. If the results are correct, then another mystery was just created. Why would gravity change only in the areas under the eclipse' path?

"We haven't looked at their videos in detail yet, and we're not going to reach any conclusions just by eyeballing them," says Koczor, who's trying to organize the mountains of data. "If, in fact, pendulums go crazy during eclipses it suggests we don't really have an understanding of gravity and the intersection of different bodies."

Koczor says much of the data still needs to be analyzed, but the current results have stumped the scientific community. "It's easy if we see nothing," Koczor says. But if there's something there, "it's a different ball game."

Solar eclipse image taken aboard Gemini 12. Click on image for full size (44K JPG) Courtesy of NASA

It will take many more months before the final decision, but scientists are already studying the latest data. The last solar eclipse of the millennium served as a great opportunity to test a phenomenon found by Maurice Allais in 1954. Allais believed that a solar eclipse can affect Earth's gravity.

The scientists in charge of the experiment have received most of the data. Pendulums were set up in many countries, with some in the path of the eclipse and others not. Some of the early results are interesting.

Video cameras taped the pendulum movements before, during and after the solar eclipse. Although no change was viewed in the pendulums outside of the eclipse path, two different sites in Europe revealed exciting results. These researchers, which were inside the path of the eclipse, discovered a change in the pendulum's path. If the results are correct, then another mystery was just created. Why would gravity change only in the areas under the eclipse' path?

The results were taken by only looking at the video. The tapes will be studied frame by frame, which will allow scientists to analyze them very closely.

Koczor says much of the data still needs to be analyzed, but the current results have stumped the scientific community. "It's easy if we see nothing," Koczor says. But if there's something there, "it's a different ball game."

Solar eclipse image taken aboard Gemini 12. Click on image for full size (44K JPG) Courtesy of NASA

For over 40 years, scientists have wondered if a solar eclipse can change Earth's gravity. A scientist named Maurice Allais thinks that during an eclipse, Earth's gravity is greater.

Allais used a Foucault pendulum to test his theory. This special pendulum swings in the same direction, even though the Earth turns below it. Scientists tested the theory during the last solar eclipse of the millennium. Not all of the data has been studied, but some scientists say they saw a change in the pendulum's swing during the eclipse.

It will take months before the results will be out. The pendulums were video taped during the event. Once they are analyzed, the scientists in charge of the experiment will reveal the results.