Solar Eclipse Anomalies and Wave Refraction

Abstract

There is some inconclusive evidence that measurement devices sensitive to local gravitation exhibit anomalous behaviour during solar eclipses. We investigate if these findings can be incorporated into the standard general relativistic model of gravitation. The General Theory of Relativity (GTR) describes gravitation as the response of an object to local spacetime curvature. Gravitational waves travelling at the speed of light are then a necessary mechanism to maintain the required consistency between local curvature and distant gravitating mass. Gravitational waves will certainly be subject to refraction by bodies such as the moon and we explore if such an effect can result in an error in the apparent position of the sources and thereby give rise to the characteristic pattern of response associated with the eclipse anomaly. It is found there are phenomenological similarities, but only if gravitational waves are considered not merely to respond to spacetime curvature but are also significantly affected by the presence of mass, perhaps in a manner analogous to electromagnetic waves propagating through matter.