In 1868 astronomers found a new element in the Sun's light, named it helium for the Greek word for the Sun, and no one found a trace of it on Earth for another 27 years

In 1868 astronomers found a new element in the Sun's light, named it helium for the Greek word for the Sun, and no one found a trace of it on Earth for another 27 years

Every other chemical element on the periodic table was found first in a rock, a flame, or a jar of gas somewhere on Earth. Helium was found in the light of the Sun. During a total solar eclipse on August 18, 1868, a French astronomer named Pierre Janssen pointed a spectroscope at the glowing rim of the Sun. He saw a bright yellow line that matched no substance known on the planet beneath his feet. That October an English astronomer, Norman Locky…