Helium detected in the solar spectrum
Helio en el espectro solar
- Date
- 1868 · confidence high
- Place
- Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India
- Credited to
- Jules Janssen; Norman Lockyer
- People
- 👤 Joseph Norman Lockyer1836–1920👤 Pierre Janssen1824–1907
- Field
- Cosmos & Earth
What was discovered
During the 1868 eclipse, Janssen saw an unknown yellow line in the solar prominences; Lockyer attributed it to a new element, helium, which was found on Earth only in 1895.
Lockyer worked in London; the name comes from Helios.
What it led to
- Discovery of an element in the sky before it was found on Earth
- Spectroscopic solar physics
- Cosmochemistry
Built on
Made possible
- Spectrohelioscope