Lunar Eclipses and Allais Effect

Abstract

Two anomalies observed during lunar eclipses, the enlargement of the Earth’s shadow and the excessive clarity of the penumbra, possibly attributed to insufficient causes if not doubtful, would refute the assertion of certain experimenters according to which the lunar Allais eclipse effect would be almost impossible to detect. The Earth’s umbra seems to be 2% larger than what is expected from geometrical considerations and it is believed that the Earth’s atmosphere is responsible for the extent of the enlargement, but it is realized that the atmospheric absorption cannot explain light absorption at a height as high as 90 km above the Earth, as required by this hypothesis. It was also argued that the irradiation of the Moon in the Earth’s shadow during the eclipse is caused by the refraction of sunlight in the upper regions of the Earth’s atmosphere. However, the shade toward the center is too bright to be accounted for by refraction of visible sunlight. Although these assumptions are not trifling, we attribute the majority of these abnormalities to the Allais eclipse effect. This effect would cause a slight decrease of gravity during the eclipse: the geodesics would be displaced a small amount outwards; the ray of light coming from the Sun, passing close by the Moon would be less attracted, which would expand the shadow cone of the Moon. On the other hand, the rays emanating from the Moon would have a shorter wavelength and therefore the luminescence would increase by anti-Stoke Raman effect: the scattered photon has more energy than the absorbed photon.