Mapping with GRACE

Twin satellites chart changes in Earth's gravitational field

Concerned about your weight? Don’t go to the North Pole, where you’re about 20 km closer to the center of Earth–and therefore a pound or so heavier–than at the equator. Head, instead, for India. There, you’d be standing over a less-dense landscape with a gentler gravitational pull. Yes, what you weigh depends on where you are.