In 1868, French astronomer Pierre Janssen pointed a spectroscope at a solar eclipse in India and saw a yellow line that matched no known element on Earth, and the gas he identified in the Sun’s chromosphere — named helium, after helios — would not be found on this planet for another 27 years, when a Scottish chemist finally coaxed it from a lump of uranium ore

During a total solar eclipse in Guntur, India on 18 August 1868, Pierre Janssen saw a yellow spectral line that matched no known element on Earth. The gas he had spotted in the Sun's chromosphere would not be isolated on this planet for another 27 years. The post In 1868, French astronomer Pierre Janssen pointed a spectroscope at a solar eclipse in India and saw a yellow line that matched no known element on Earth, and the gas he identified in the Sun’s chromosphere — named helium, after helios